Codestral vs Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B vs Vision Large
Vision Large comes out ahead, 84 to 31 and 29 on our weighted score.
Mistral AICodestral
29/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $0.90
- Context256K
NVIDIALlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B
31/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context128K
- Our pick
VisparkVision Large
84/100- ECI—
- Price—
- Context1M
Vision Large is our pick
Vision Large is the better all-round choice, scoring 84/100 against Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B (31) and Codestral (29). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B Free · Codestral $0.45 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Vision Large unpriced
- Longest contextVision LargeVision Large 1,000,000 · Codestral 256,000 · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsVision LargeCodestral: Text · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B: Text · Vision Large: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingCodestral and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Codestral | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B | Vision Large |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs & features | 60% | 25 | 35 | 100 |
| Context window | 40% | 36 | 24 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 29/100 | 31/100 | 84/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | CodestralMistral AI | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BNVIDIA | Vision LargeVispark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.30 | Free (best) | — |
| Output | $0.90 | Free (best) | — |
| Cached input | $0.03 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.45 | Free (best) | — |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | — |
| Price source | Official Mistral API | Official Nvidia API | — |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens | 8,192 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | Yes |
| Video | No | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | codestral-latest | nvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1 | — |
| API providers | 3 (best) | 1 | — |
| Released | May 29, 2024 | Apr 7, 2025 | May 15, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Oct 2024 | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Codestral$4.80
- Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BFree
- Vision Large—
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Codestral, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B or Vision Large?
Vision Large is the better all-round choice, scoring 84/100 against Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B (31) and Codestral (29). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Codestral, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B or Vision Large?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Nvidia API price). Codestral costs $0.30 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is listed as free. Vision Large has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Codestral has not been scored yet, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B has not been scored yet and Vision Large has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Codestral, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B and Vision Large yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Vision Large has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 256,000 for Codestral and 128,000 for Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B. Maximum output per response: Codestral up to 4,096, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B up to 8,192, Vision Large up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Codestral accepts text; Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B accepts text; Vision Large accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Vision Large handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Codestral and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Vision Large is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the newest, released Apr 7, 2025. Codestral came out May 29, 2024; Vision Large came out May 15, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Codestral Oct 2024.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.
