GPT-5.1 Codex mini vs Mistral Large 3 vs Nova 2 Lite
Nova 2 Lite comes out ahead, 62 to 59 and 50 on our weighted score, though GPT-5.1 Codex mini is 26% cheaper per token.
OpenAIGPT-5.1 Codex mini
59/100- ECI—
- Price$0.25 / $2.00
- Context400K
Mistral AIMistral Large 3
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $1.50
- Context262K
- Our pick
AmazonNova 2 Lite
62/100- ECI—
- Price$0.33 / $2.75
- Context1M
Nova 2 Lite is our pick
Nova 2 Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against GPT-5.1 Codex mini (59) and Mistral Large 3 (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. GPT-5.1 Codex mini 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 priceGPT-5.1 Codex miniGPT-5.1 Codex mini $0.688 · Mistral Large 3 $0.75 · Nova 2 Lite $0.935 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextNova 2 LiteNova 2 Lite 1,000,000 · GPT-5.1 Codex mini 400,000 · Mistral Large 3 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsNova 2 LiteGPT-5.1 Codex mini: Text, Images · Mistral Large 3: Text, Images · Nova 2 Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
- Self-hostingMistral Large 3Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GPT-5.1 Codex mini | Mistral Large 3 | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 58 | 56 | 51 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 70 | 50 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 44 | 37 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 59/100 | 50/100 | 62/100 |
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 | GPT-5.1 Codex miniOpenAI | Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | Nova 2 LiteAmazon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.25 (best) | $0.50 | $0.33 |
| Output | $2.00 | $1.50 (best) | $2.75 |
| Cached input | — | $0.05 (best) | $0.083 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.688 (best) | $0.75 | $0.935 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 10 providers | Official Mistral API | Official Amazon Bedrock API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 400,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | No | Yeslow · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | mistral-large-2512 | amazon.nova-2-lite-v1:0 |
| API providers | 10 | 13 (best) | 2 |
| Released | Nov 13, 2025 | Dec 2, 2025 | Dec 2, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 30, 2024 | Nov 2024 | Oct 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- GPT-5.1 Codex mini$6.50
- Mistral Large 3$8.00
- Nova 2 Lite$8.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-5.1 Codex mini, Mistral Large 3 or Nova 2 Lite?
Nova 2 Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against GPT-5.1 Codex mini (59) and Mistral Large 3 (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. GPT-5.1 Codex mini 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, GPT-5.1 Codex mini, Mistral Large 3 or Nova 2 Lite?
GPT-5.1 Codex mini is cheaper at $0.25 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (median across 10 API providers). Mistral Large 3 costs $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price); Nova 2 Lite costs $0.33 input / $2.75 output per million tokens (official Amazon Bedrock API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.688 per million tokens for GPT-5.1 Codex mini versus $0.75 for Mistral Large 3 (1.1× as much) and $0.935 for Nova 2 Lite (1.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. GPT-5.1 Codex mini has not been scored yet, Mistral Large 3 has not been scored yet and Nova 2 Lite has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.1 Codex mini, Mistral Large 3 and Nova 2 Lite 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?
Nova 2 Lite has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5.1 Codex mini and 262,144 for Mistral Large 3. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.1 Codex mini up to 128,000, Mistral Large 3 up to 262,144, Nova 2 Lite up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-5.1 Codex mini accepts text and images; Mistral Large 3 accepts text and images; Nova 2 Lite accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Nova 2 Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Mistral Large 3 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-5.1 Codex mini and Nova 2 Lite is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Mistral Large 3 is the newest, released Dec 2, 2025. Nova 2 Lite came out Dec 2, 2025; GPT-5.1 Codex mini came out Nov 13, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.1 Codex mini Sep 30, 2024, Mistral Large 3 Nov 2024, Nova 2 Lite Oct 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 Oct 4, 2026.
