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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Command R vs Ministral 8B Instruct

Ministral 8B Instruct comes out ahead, 57 to 51 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Cohere

    Command R

    Released Aug 30, 2024

    51/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.60
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Command R
  2. Our pick

    Mistral AI

    Ministral 8B Instruct

    Released Oct 16, 2024

    57/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.15
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Ministral 8B Instruct

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Ministral 8B Instruct is our pick

Ministral 8B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Command R (51). It leads on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. 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 priceMinistral 8B InstructMinistral 8B Instruct $0.15 · Command R $0.263 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextMinistral 8B InstructMinistral 8B Instruct 131,072 · Command R 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsCommand R: Text · Ministral 8B Instruct: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightCommand RMinistral 8B Instruct
Price50%7789
Inputs & features30%2525
Context window20%2424
Overall100%51/10057/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Command R vs Ministral 8B Instruct specifications side by side
SpecificationCommand RCohereMinistral 8B InstructMistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—27.2%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.15$0.15
Output$0.60$0.15 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.263$0.15 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Cohere APIMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Max output4,000 tokens8,192 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenMistral Research License
API model IDcommand-r-08-2024—
API providers5 (best)1
ReleasedAug 30, 2024Oct 16, 2024
Knowledge cutoffJun 1, 2024—
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Command R$2.70
  • Ministral 8B Instruct$1.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Command R or Ministral 8B Instruct?

Ministral 8B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Command R (51). It leads on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, Command R or Ministral 8B Instruct?

Ministral 8B Instruct is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Command R costs $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for Ministral 8B Instruct versus $0.263 for Command R (1.8× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Command R has not been scored yet and Ministral 8B Instruct has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Command R and Ministral 8B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Ministral 8B Instruct has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Command R. Maximum output per response: Command R up to 4,000, Ministral 8B Instruct up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Command R accepts text; Ministral 8B Instruct accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (Mistral Research License), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Ministral 8B Instruct is the newest, released Oct 16, 2024. Command R came out Aug 30, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Command R Jun 1, 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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