Ministral 3 8B vs Rnj-1 Instruct vs Step 3.5 Flash
Ministral 3 8B comes out ahead, 68 to 63 and 50 on our weighted score.
- Our pick
Mistral AIMinistral 3 8B
68/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context262K
Essential AI
Rnj-1 Instruct
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context33K
StepFunStep 3.5 Flash
63/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.30
- Context256K
Ministral 3 8B is our pick
Ministral 3 8B is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Step 3.5 Flash (63) and Rnj-1 Instruct (50). It leads on inputs & features. 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 priceSame priceMinistral 3 8B $0.15 · Rnj-1 Instruct $0.15 · Step 3.5 Flash $0.15 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextMinistral 3 8BMinistral 3 8B 262,144 · Step 3.5 Flash 256,000 · Rnj-1 Instruct 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsMinistral 3 8BMinistral 3 8B: Text, Images · Rnj-1 Instruct: Text · Step 3.5 Flash: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Ministral 3 8B | Rnj-1 Instruct | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 85 | 85 | 85 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 25 | 45 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 0 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 68/100 | 50/100 | 63/100 |
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 | Ministral 3 8BMistral AI | Rnj-1 InstructEssential AI | Step 3.5 FlashStepFun |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.15 | $0.15 | $0.10 (best) |
| Output | $0.15 (best) | $0.15 (best) | $0.30 |
| Cached input | $0.015 (best) | — | $0.02 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.15 | $0.15 | $0.15 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Mistral API | Median of 1 providers | Official StepFun (Global) API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | 262,144 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens | 256,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | Yeslow · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenApache 2.0 | OpenApache 2.0 | Open |
| API model ID | ministral-8b-2512 | — | step-3.5-flash |
| API providers | 11 | 1 | 13 (best) |
| Released | Dec 2, 2025 | Dec 4, 2025 | Jan 29, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | Jan 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Ministral 3 8B$1.80
- Rnj-1 Instruct$1.80
- Step 3.5 Flash$1.60
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Ministral 3 8B, Rnj-1 Instruct or Step 3.5 Flash?
Ministral 3 8B is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Step 3.5 Flash (63) and Rnj-1 Instruct (50). It leads on inputs & features. 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, Ministral 3 8B, Rnj-1 Instruct or Step 3.5 Flash?
Ministral 3 8B, Rnj-1 Instruct and Step 3.5 Flash cost the same: $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Ministral 3 8B has not been scored yet, Rnj-1 Instruct has not been scored yet and Step 3.5 Flash has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Ministral 3 8B, Rnj-1 Instruct and Step 3.5 Flash 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?
Ministral 3 8B has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 256,000 for Step 3.5 Flash and 32,768 for Rnj-1 Instruct. Maximum output per response: Ministral 3 8B up to 262,144, Rnj-1 Instruct up to 32,768, Step 3.5 Flash up to 256,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Ministral 3 8B accepts text and images; Rnj-1 Instruct accepts text; Step 3.5 Flash accepts text. Ministral 3 8B 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?
Step 3.5 Flash is the newest, released Jan 29, 2026. Rnj-1 Instruct came out Dec 4, 2025; Ministral 3 8B came out Dec 2, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Step 3.5 Flash Jan 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.
