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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct vs Mixtral 8x7B

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct comes out ahead, 44 to 37 on our weighted score.

  1. Our pick

    Meta

    Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct

    Released Jul 23, 2024

    44/100
    • ECI125.9
    • Price$0.72 / $0.72
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct

  2. Mistral AI

    Mixtral 8x7B

    Released Dec 11, 2023

    37/100
    • ECI118.5
    • Price$0.70 / $0.70
    • Context32K
    Full specs Remove Mixtral 8x7B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct is our pick

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 44/100 against Mixtral 8x7B (37). It leads on capability and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityLlama-3.1-70B-InstructCapabilities Index (ECI): Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct 125.9 · Mixtral 8x7B 118.5
  • Lowest priceMixtral 8x7BMixtral 8x7B $0.70 · Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct $0.72 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextLlama-3.1-70B-InstructLlama-3.1-70B-Instruct 128,000 · Mixtral 8x7B 32,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsLlama-3.1-70B-Instruct: Text · Mixtral 8x7B: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightLlama-3.1-70B-InstructMixtral 8x7B
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%4838
Price25%5757
Inputs & features15%2525
Context window10%240
Overall100%44/10037/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct vs Mixtral 8x7B specifications side by side
SpecificationLlama-3.1-70B-InstructMetaMixtral 8x7BMistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)125.9 (best)118.5
ECI rank#136 of 148 (best)#142 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions44.2% (best)30.6%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics3.6%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.72$0.70 (best)
Output$0.72$0.70 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.72$0.70 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 5 providersOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens (best)32,000 tokens
Max output4,096 tokens32,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID—open-mixtral-8x7b
API providers5 (best)1
ReleasedJul 23, 2024Dec 11, 2023
Knowledge cutoffDec 2023Jan 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.

  • Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct$8.64
  • Mixtral 8x7B$8.40
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct or Mixtral 8x7B?

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 44/100 against Mixtral 8x7B (37). It leads on capability and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct or Mixtral 8x7B?

Mixtral 8x7B is cheaper at $0.70 input / $0.70 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct costs $0.72 input / $0.72 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.70 per million tokens for Mixtral 8x7B versus $0.72 for Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct (1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct 125.9 (#136 of 148) and Mixtral 8x7B 118.5 (#142 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (121.0–128.1 vs 111.3–121.3), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct 44.2%, Mixtral 8x7B 30.6%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct and Mixtral 8x7B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 32,000 for Mixtral 8x7B. Maximum output per response: Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct up to 4,096, Mixtral 8x7B up to 32,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct accepts text; Mixtral 8x7B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct is the newest, released Jul 23, 2024. Mixtral 8x7B came out Dec 11, 2023. Knowledge cutoff: Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct Dec 2023, Mixtral 8x7B Jan 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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