Mistral Large vs Hermes 3 405B Instruct vs Gemma 2 27B
Mistral Large comes out ahead, 45 to 29 and 28 on our weighted score, though Gemma 2 27B is 13% cheaper per token.
- Our pick
Mistral AIMistral Large
45/100- ECI122.0
- Price$0.50 / $1.50
- Context128K
Nous ResearchHermes 3 405B Instruct
29/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $1.00
- Context131K
GoogleGemma 2 27B
28/100- ECI122.1
- Price$0.65 / $0.65
- Context8K
Mistral Large is our pick
Mistral Large is the better all-round choice, scoring 45/100 against Hermes 3 405B Instruct (29) and Gemma 2 27B (28). It leads on inputs & features. Gemma 2 27B wins on price. 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 priceGemma 2 27BGemma 2 27B $0.65 · Mistral Large $0.75 · Hermes 3 405B Instruct $1.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextHermes 3 405B InstructHermes 3 405B Instruct 131,072 · Mistral Large 128,000 · Gemma 2 27B 8,192 tokens
- Widest inputsMistral LargeMistral Large: Text, PDFs · Hermes 3 405B Instruct: Text · Gemma 2 27B: Text
- Self-hostingHermes 3 405B Instruct and Gemma 2 27BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Mistral Large | Hermes 3 405B Instruct | Gemma 2 27B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 53 | 48 | 56 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 45 | 0 | 0 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 25 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 45/100 | 29/100 | 28/100 |
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 | Mistral LargeMistral AI | Hermes 3 405B InstructNous Research | Gemma 2 27BGoogle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 122.0 | — | 122.1 (best) |
| ECI rank | #153 of 165 | — | #152 of 165 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 38.8% (best) | — | 36.5% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 1.9% (best) | — | 1.4% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.50 (best) | $1.00 | $0.65 |
| Output | $1.50 | $1.00 | $0.65 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.05 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.75 | $1.00 | $0.65 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Mistral API | Median of 5 providers | Median of 3 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Max output | 102,400 tokens (best) | 16,384 tokens | 2,048 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | Yes | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | No | No |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Open |
| API model ID | mistral-large-latest | — | — |
| API providers | 11 (best) | 5 | 3 |
| Released | Feb 26, 2024 | Aug 16, 2024 | Jul 13, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Nov 30, 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 | Jun 30, 2024 |
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$8.00
- Hermes 3 405B Instruct$12.00
- Gemma 2 27B$7.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Mistral Large, Hermes 3 405B Instruct or Gemma 2 27B?
Mistral Large is the better all-round choice, scoring 45/100 against Hermes 3 405B Instruct (29) and Gemma 2 27B (28). It leads on inputs & features. Gemma 2 27B wins on price. 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, Hermes 3 405B Instruct or Gemma 2 27B?
Gemma 2 27B is cheaper at $0.65 input / $0.65 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). Mistral Large costs $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price); Hermes 3 405B Instruct costs $1.00 input / $1.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.65 per million tokens for Gemma 2 27B versus $0.75 for Mistral Large (1.2× as much) and $1.00 for Hermes 3 405B Instruct (1.5× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Mistral Large has an ECI of 122.0, Hermes 3 405B Instruct has not been scored yet and Gemma 2 27B has an ECI of 122.1.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mistral Large, Hermes 3 405B Instruct and Gemma 2 27B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Hermes 3 405B Instruct and Gemma 2 27B does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Hermes 3 405B Instruct has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Mistral Large and 8,192 for Gemma 2 27B. Maximum output per response: Mistral Large up to 102,400, Hermes 3 405B Instruct up to 16,384, Gemma 2 27B up to 2,048 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Mistral Large accepts text and PDFs; Hermes 3 405B Instruct accepts text; Gemma 2 27B accepts text. Mistral Large handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Hermes 3 405B Instruct and Gemma 2 27B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Mistral Large is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Hermes 3 405B Instruct is the newest, released Aug 16, 2024. Gemma 2 27B came out Jul 13, 2024; Mistral Large came out Feb 26, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Large Nov 30, 2024, Hermes 3 405B Instruct Dec 31, 2023, Gemma 2 27B Jun 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 Nov 2, 2026.
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