ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Mistral Large 3 vs Mistral Large 2.1 vs GPT-5.1 Codex mini

GPT-5.1 Codex mini comes out ahead, 59 to 50 and 26 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Mistral AI

    Mistral Large 3

    Released Dec 2, 2025

    50/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.50 / $1.50
    • Context262K
  2. Mistral AI

    Mistral Large 2.1

    Released Nov 18, 2024

    26/100
    • ECI128.5
    • Price$2.00 / $6.00
    • Context131K
  3. Our pick

    OpenAI

    GPT-5.1 Codex mini

    Released Nov 13, 2025

    59/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.25 / $2.00
    • Context400K
01 — Verdict

GPT-5.1 Codex mini is our pick

GPT-5.1 Codex mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against Mistral Large 3 (50) and Mistral Large 2.1 (26). It leads on price, inputs & features and 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 priceGPT-5.1 Codex miniGPT-5.1 Codex mini $0.688 · Mistral Large 3 $0.75 · Mistral Large 2.1 $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-5.1 Codex miniGPT-5.1 Codex mini 400,000 · Mistral Large 3 262,144 · Mistral Large 2.1 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsMistral Large 3 and GPT-5.1 Codex miniMistral Large 3: Text, Images · Mistral Large 2.1: Text · GPT-5.1 Codex mini: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingMistral Large 3 and Mistral Large 2.1Publishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightMistral Large 3Mistral Large 2.1GPT-5.1 Codex mini
Price50%562758
Inputs & features30%502570
Context window20%372444
Overall100%50/10026/10059/100

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.

Mistral Large 3 vs Mistral Large 2.1 vs GPT-5.1 Codex mini specifications side by side
SpecificationMistral Large 3Mistral AIMistral Large 2.1Mistral AIGPT-5.1 Codex miniOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—128.5—
ECI rank—#130 of 148—
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—51.3%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—7.8%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.50$2.00$0.25 (best)
Output$1.50 (best)$6.00$2.00
Cached input$0.05——
Blended (3:1)$0.75$3.00$0.688 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Mistral APIOfficial Mistral APIMedian of 10 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens131,072 tokens400,000 tokens (best)
Max output262,144 tokens (best)16,384 tokens128,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesNoYes
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoNoYes
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenProprietary
API model IDmistral-large-2512mistral-large-2411—
API providers13 (best)210
ReleasedDec 2, 2025Nov 18, 2024Nov 13, 2025
Knowledge cutoffNov 2024Nov 2024Sep 30, 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.

  • Mistral Large 3$8.00
  • Mistral Large 2.1$32.00
  • GPT-5.1 Codex mini$6.50
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Mistral Large 3, Mistral Large 2.1 or GPT-5.1 Codex mini?

GPT-5.1 Codex mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against Mistral Large 3 (50) and Mistral Large 2.1 (26). It leads on price, inputs & features and 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, Mistral Large 3, Mistral Large 2.1 or GPT-5.1 Codex mini?

GPT-5.1 Codex mini is cheaper at $0.25 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (median across 10 API providers). Mistral Large 3 costs $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price); Mistral Large 2.1 costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.688 per million tokens for GPT-5.1 Codex mini versus $0.75 for Mistral Large 3 (1.1× as much) and $3.00 for Mistral Large 2.1 (4.4× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Mistral Large 3 has not been scored yet, Mistral Large 2.1 has an ECI of 128.5 and GPT-5.1 Codex mini has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mistral Large 3, Mistral Large 2.1 and GPT-5.1 Codex mini 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?

GPT-5.1 Codex mini has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Mistral Large 3 and 131,072 for Mistral Large 2.1. Maximum output per response: Mistral Large 3 up to 262,144, Mistral Large 2.1 up to 16,384, GPT-5.1 Codex mini up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Mistral Large 3 accepts text and images; Mistral Large 2.1 accepts text; GPT-5.1 Codex mini accepts text and images. Mistral Large 3 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Mistral Large 3 and Mistral Large 2.1 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-5.1 Codex mini is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Mistral Large 3 is the newest, released Dec 2, 2025. GPT-5.1 Codex mini came out Nov 13, 2025; Mistral Large 2.1 came out Nov 18, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Large 3 Nov 2024, Mistral Large 2.1 Nov 2024, GPT-5.1 Codex mini Sep 30, 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.