Llama-3.2-1B vs Ministral 3B
Ministral 3B comes out ahead, 25 to 19 on our weighted score.
MetaLlama-3.2-1B
19/100- ECI—
- Price$0.027 / $0.201
- Context131K
- Our pick
Mistral AIMinistral 3B
25/100- ECI118.0
- Price—
- Context128K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Ministral 3B is our pick
Ministral 3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 25/100 against Llama-3.2-1B (19). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs capability 67%, inputs & features 20%, context window 13%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond), because Llama-3.2-1B has no Capabilities Index score yet.
- CapabilityMinistral 3BShared benchmarks: Ministral 3B 25.3% · Llama-3.2-1B 23.9%
- Lowest priceLlama-3.2-1BLlama-3.2-1B $0.07 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Ministral 3B unpriced
- Longest contextLlama-3.2-1BLlama-3.2-1B 131,072 · Ministral 3B 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsLlama-3.2-1B: Text · Ministral 3B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Llama-3.2-1B | Ministral 3B |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityShared benchmarks | 67% | 24 | 25 |
| Inputs & features | 20% | 0 | 25 |
| Context window | 13% | 25 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 19/100 | 25/100 |
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-3.2-1BMeta | Ministral 3BMistral AI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | 118.0 |
| ECI rank | — | #161 of 165 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 23.9% | 25.3% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 0.6% | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.027 | — |
| Output | $0.201 | — |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.07 | — |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | — |
| Price source | Median of 6 providers | — |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | OpenLlama 3.2 Community License | Open |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | 6 | — |
| Released | Sep 25, 2024 | Oct 16, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Dec 2023 | Mar 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-3.2-1B$0.672
- Ministral 3B—
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Llama-3.2-1B or Ministral 3B?
Ministral 3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 25/100 against Llama-3.2-1B (19). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs capability 67%, inputs & features 20%, context window 13%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond), because Llama-3.2-1B has no Capabilities Index score yet.
Which is cheaper, Llama-3.2-1B or Ministral 3B?
Llama-3.2-1B is cheaper at $0.027 input / $0.201 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers). . At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.07 per million tokens for Llama-3.2-1B versus . Ministral 3B has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Not every model here has a Capabilities Index score, so we compare the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond): Ministral 3B 25.3% and Llama-3.2-1B 23.9%. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Ministral 3B 25.3%, Llama-3.2-1B 23.9%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Llama-3.2-1B and Ministral 3B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Ministral 3B leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Note that Llama-3.2-1B does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Llama-3.2-1B has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Ministral 3B. Maximum output per response: Llama-3.2-1B up to 8,192, Ministral 3B up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Llama-3.2-1B accepts text; Ministral 3B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (Llama 3.2 Community License), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Ministral 3B is the newest, released Oct 16, 2024. Llama-3.2-1B came out Sep 25, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Llama-3.2-1B Dec 2023, Ministral 3B Mar 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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