Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct vs Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 vs Mixtral 8x22B Instruct
Mixtral 8x22B Instruct comes out ahead, 37 to 32 and 22 on our weighted score, though Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is 46× cheaper per token.
MetaLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct
32/100- ECI116.4
- Price$0.06 / $0.08
- Context128K
Mistral AIMistral 7B Instruct v0.3
22/100- ECI109.0
- Price—
- Context33K
- Our pickMistral AI
Mixtral 8x22B Instruct
37/100- ECI122.0
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context66K
Mixtral 8x22B Instruct is our pick
Mixtral 8x22B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 37/100 against Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (32) and Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 (22). It leads on capability and inputs & features. Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct wins on context window. The score weighs capability 67%, inputs & features 20%, context window 13%.
- CapabilityMixtral 8x22B InstructCapabilities Index (ECI): Mixtral 8x22B Instruct 122.0 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 116.4 · Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 109.0
- Lowest priceLlama-3.1-8B-InstructLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct $0.065 · Mixtral 8x22B Instruct $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 unpriced
- Longest contextLlama-3.1-8B-InstructLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct 128,000 · Mixtral 8x22B Instruct 65,536 · Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsMixtral 8x22B InstructLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct: Text · Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3: Text · Mixtral 8x22B Instruct: Text, PDFs
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct | Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 67% | 35 | 26 | 42 |
| Inputs & features | 20% | 25 | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 13% | 24 | 0 | 12 |
| Overall | 100% | 32/100 | 22/100 | 37/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: price. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Llama-3.1-8B-InstructMeta | Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3Mistral AI | Mixtral 8x22B InstructMistral AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 116.4 | 109.0 | 122.0 (best) |
| ECI rank | #162 of 165 | #164 of 165 | #155 of 165 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 27.0% | 15.2% | 34.1% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 1.7% (best) | 0.3% | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.06 (best) | — | $2.00 |
| Output | $0.08 (best) | — | $6.00 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.065 (best) | — | $3.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | — | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 17 providers | — | Median of 5 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens | 65,536 tokens |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens | 32,768 tokens | 52,428 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | OpenApache 2.0 | Open |
| API model ID | — | — | — |
| API providers | 18 (best) | 1 | 5 |
| Released | Jul 23, 2024 | May 22, 2024 | Apr 17, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Dec 2023 | — | Jan 31, 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct$0.76
- Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3—
- Mixtral 8x22B Instruct$32.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct, Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 or Mixtral 8x22B Instruct?
Mixtral 8x22B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 37/100 against Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (32) and Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 (22). It leads on capability and inputs & features. Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct wins on context window. The score weighs capability 67%, inputs & features 20%, context window 13%.
Which is cheaper, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct, Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 or Mixtral 8x22B Instruct?
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is cheaper at $0.06 input / $0.08 output per million tokens (median across 17 API providers). Mixtral 8x22B Instruct costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.065 per million tokens for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct versus $3.00 for Mixtral 8x22B Instruct (46× as much). Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Mixtral 8x22B Instruct scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Mixtral 8x22B Instruct 122.0 (#155 of 165), Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 116.4 (#162 of 165) and Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 109.0 (#164 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (115.7–124.3 vs 107.0–121.6), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Mixtral 8x22B Instruct 34.1%, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 27.0%, Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 15.2%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct, Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 and Mixtral 8x22B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 65,536 for Mixtral 8x22B Instruct and 32,768 for Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3. Maximum output per response: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct up to 4,096, Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 up to 32,768, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct up to 52,428 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct accepts text; Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 accepts text; Mixtral 8x22B Instruct accepts text and PDFs. Mixtral 8x22B Instruct handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights (Apache 2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is the newest, released Jul 23, 2024. Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 came out May 22, 2024; Mixtral 8x22B Instruct came out Apr 17, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct Dec 2023, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct Jan 31, 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 Nov 2, 2026.
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