Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 vs Ministral 3 8B vs Rnj-1 Instruct
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 comes out ahead, 78 to 68 and 50 on our weighted score, though Ministral 3 8B is 29% cheaper per token.
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17
78/100- ECI133.8
- Price$0.12 / $0.48
- Context1.05M
Mistral AIMinistral 3 8B
68/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context262K
Essential AI
Rnj-1 Instruct
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context33K
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is our pick
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is the better all-round choice, scoring 78/100 against Ministral 3 8B (68) and Rnj-1 Instruct (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. 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 3 8B and Rnj-1 InstructMinistral 3 8B $0.15 · Rnj-1 Instruct $0.15 · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 $0.21 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 1,048,576 · Ministral 3 8B 262,144 · Rnj-1 Instruct 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Ministral 3 8B: Text, Images · Rnj-1 Instruct: Text
- Self-hostingMinistral 3 8B and Rnj-1 InstructPublishes downloadable weights (Apache 2.0)
| Measure | Weight | Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 | Ministral 3 8B | Rnj-1 Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 79 | 85 | 85 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 90 | 60 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 61 | 37 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 78/100 | 68/100 | 50/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17Google | Ministral 3 8BMistral AI | Rnj-1 InstructEssential AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 133.8 | — | — |
| ECI rank | #132 of 165 | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.12 (best) | $0.15 | $0.15 |
| Output | $0.48 | $0.15 (best) | $0.15 (best) |
| Cached input | — | $0.015 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.21 | $0.15 (best) | $0.15 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 2 providers | Official Mistral API | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens | 32,768 tokens |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | No |
| PDFs | Yes | No | No |
| Audio | Yes | No | No |
| Video | Yes | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | OpenApache 2.0 | OpenApache 2.0 |
| API model ID | — | ministral-8b-2512 | — |
| API providers | 2 | 11 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Jun 17, 2025 | Dec 2, 2025 | Dec 4, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jan 2025 | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17$2.16
- Ministral 3 8B$1.80
- Rnj-1 Instruct$1.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17, Ministral 3 8B or Rnj-1 Instruct?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is the better all-round choice, scoring 78/100 against Ministral 3 8B (68) and Rnj-1 Instruct (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. 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, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17, Ministral 3 8B or Rnj-1 Instruct?
Ministral 3 8B is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Rnj-1 Instruct costs $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider); Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 costs $0.12 input / $0.48 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for Ministral 3 8B versus $0.15 for Rnj-1 Instruct (1× as much) and $0.21 for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 (1.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 has an ECI of 133.8, Ministral 3 8B has not been scored yet and Rnj-1 Instruct has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17, Ministral 3 8B and Rnj-1 Instruct 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?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 262,144 for Ministral 3 8B and 32,768 for Rnj-1 Instruct. Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 up to 65,536, Ministral 3 8B up to 262,144, Rnj-1 Instruct up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Ministral 3 8B accepts text and images; Rnj-1 Instruct accepts text. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Ministral 3 8B and Rnj-1 Instruct publishes its weights (Apache 2.0) and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Rnj-1 Instruct is the newest, released Dec 4, 2025. Ministral 3 8B came out Dec 2, 2025; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 came out Jun 17, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 Jan 2025.
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 Nov 2, 2026.
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