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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 vs Ministral 3 8B

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 comes out ahead, 78 to 68 on our weighted score, though Ministral 3 8B is 29% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    78/100
    • ECI133.8
    • Price$0.12 / $0.48
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17

  2. Mistral AI

    Ministral 3 8B

    Released Dec 2, 2025

    68/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.15
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Ministral 3 8B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

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). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Ministral 3 8B wins 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 3 8BMinistral 3 8B $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 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
  • Self-hostingMinistral 3 8BPublishes downloadable weights (Apache 2.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17Ministral 3 8B
Price50%7985
Inputs & features30%9060
Context window20%6137
Overall100%78/10068/100

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.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 vs Ministral 3 8B specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17GoogleMinistral 3 8BMistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)133.8—
ECI rank#132 of 165—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.12 (best)$0.15
Output$0.48$0.15 (best)
Cached input—$0.015
Blended (3:1)$0.21$0.15 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 2 providersOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)262,144 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens262,144 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesNo
AudioYesNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpenApache 2.0
API model ID—ministral-8b-2512
API providers211 (best)
ReleasedJun 17, 2025Dec 2, 2025
Knowledge cutoffJan 2025—
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.

  • Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17$2.16
  • Ministral 3 8B$1.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 or Ministral 3 8B?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is the better all-round choice, scoring 78/100 against Ministral 3 8B (68). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Ministral 3 8B wins 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, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 or Ministral 3 8B?

Ministral 3 8B is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). 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 $0.21 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 both models yet. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 has an ECI of 133.8 and Ministral 3 8B 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 and Ministral 3 8B 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?

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. Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 up to 65,536, Ministral 3 8B up to 262,144 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. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Ministral 3 8B publishes its weights (Apache 2.0) and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Ministral 3 8B is the newest, released 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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