Grok Build 0.1 vs Mistral Large 3 vs Nova 2 Lite
Nova 2 Lite comes out ahead, 61 to 53 and 52 on our weighted score, though Mistral Large 3 is 16% cheaper per token.
xAIGrok Build 0.1
53/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $2.00
- Context256K
Mistral AIMistral Large 3
52/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $1.50
- Context262K
- Our pick
AmazonNova 2 Lite
61/100- ECI—
- Price$0.315 / $2.63
- Context1M
Nova 2 Lite is our pick
Nova 2 Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Grok Build 0.1 (53) and Mistral Large 3 (52). It leads on context window. Mistral Large 3 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 priceMistral Large 3Mistral Large 3 $0.75 · Nova 2 Lite $0.892 · Grok Build 0.1 $1.25 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextNova 2 LiteNova 2 Lite 1,000,000 · Mistral Large 3 262,144 · Grok Build 0.1 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsNova 2 LiteGrok Build 0.1: Text, Images, PDFs · Mistral Large 3: Text, Images · Nova 2 Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
- Self-hostingMistral Large 3Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Grok Build 0.1 | Mistral Large 3 | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 43 | 53 | 50 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 80 | 60 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 37 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 53/100 | 52/100 | 61/100 |
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 | Grok Build 0.1xAI | Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | Nova 2 LiteAmazon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.00 | $0.50 | $0.315 (best) |
| Output | $2.00 | $1.50 (best) | $2.63 |
| Cached input | $0.20 | $0.05 (best) | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.25 | $0.75 (best) | $0.892 |
| Long-context rate | Over 200K: $2.00 / $4.00 | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official xAI API | Official Mistral API | Median of 6 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 256,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | No | Yeslow · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | grok-build-0.1 | mistral-large-2512 | nova-2-lite-v1 |
| API providers | 20 (best) | 17 | 8 |
| Released | Apr 16, 2026 | Dec 2, 2025 | Dec 2, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | 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.
- Grok Build 0.1$14.00
- Mistral Large 3$8.00
- Nova 2 Lite$8.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Grok Build 0.1, Mistral Large 3 or Nova 2 Lite?
Nova 2 Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Grok Build 0.1 (53) and Mistral Large 3 (52). It leads on context window. Mistral Large 3 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, Grok Build 0.1, Mistral Large 3 or Nova 2 Lite?
Mistral Large 3 is cheaper at $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Nova 2 Lite costs $0.315 input / $2.63 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers; free on Nova); Grok Build 0.1 costs $1.00 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official xAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.75 per million tokens for Mistral Large 3 versus $0.892 for Nova 2 Lite (1.2× as much) and $1.25 for Grok Build 0.1 (1.7× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Grok Build 0.1 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 Grok Build 0.1, 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 262,144 for Mistral Large 3 and 256,000 for Grok Build 0.1. Maximum output per response: Grok Build 0.1 up to 256,000, Mistral Large 3 up to 262,144, Nova 2 Lite up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Grok Build 0.1 accepts text, images and PDFs; 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; Grok Build 0.1 and Nova 2 Lite is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Grok Build 0.1 is the newest, released Apr 16, 2026. Mistral Large 3 came out Dec 2, 2025; Nova 2 Lite came out Dec 2, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: 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 Nov 2, 2026.
