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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B vs Codestral

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B comes out ahead, 65 to 48 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    NVIDIA

    Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B

    Released Apr 7, 2025

    65/100
    • ECI—
    • PriceFree / Free
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B

  2. Mistral AI

    Codestral

    Released May 29, 2024

    48/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.30 / $0.90
    • Context256K
    Full specs Remove Codestral

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is our pick

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against Codestral (48). It leads on price and inputs & features. Codestral wins on context window. 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 priceLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B Free · Codestral $0.45 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextCodestralCodestral 256,000 · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B: Text · Codestral: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BCodestral
Price50%10066
Inputs & features30%3525
Context window20%2436
Overall100%65/10048/100

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.

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B vs Codestral specifications side by side
SpecificationLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BNVIDIACodestralMistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
InputFree (best)$0.30
OutputFree (best)$0.90
Cached input—$0.03
Blended (3:1)Free (best)$0.45
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Nvidia APIOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens256,000 tokens (best)
Max output8,192 tokens (best)4,096 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDnvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1codestral-latest
API providers13 (best)
ReleasedApr 7, 2025May 29, 2024
Knowledge cutoff—Oct 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 Nemotron Ultra 253BFree
  • Codestral$4.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B or Codestral?

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against Codestral (48). It leads on price and inputs & features. Codestral wins on context window. 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, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B or Codestral?

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Nvidia API price). Codestral costs $0.30 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is listed as free.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B has not been scored yet and Codestral has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B and Codestral 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?

Codestral has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 128,000 for Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B. Maximum output per response: Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B up to 8,192, Codestral up to 4,096 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B accepts text; Codestral 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 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the newest, released Apr 7, 2025. Codestral came out May 29, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Codestral Oct 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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