Mistral Large vs Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct comes out ahead, 49 to 44 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Mistral AIMistral Large
44/100- ECI122.0
- Price$0.50 / $1.50
- Context128K
- Our pick
MetaLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct
49/100- ECI116.4
- Price$0.06 / $0.08
- Context128K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is our pick
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against Mistral Large (44). It leads on price. Mistral Large wins on capability and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityMistral LargeCapabilities Index (ECI): Mistral Large 122.0 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 116.4
- Lowest priceLlama-3.1-8B-InstructLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct $0.065 · Mistral Large $0.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameMistral Large 128,000 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsMistral LargeMistral Large: Text, PDFs · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct: Text
- Self-hostingLlama-3.1-8B-InstructPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Mistral Large | Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 42 | 35 |
| Price | 25% | 53 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 45 | 25 |
| Context window | 10% | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 44/100 | 49/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Mistral LargeMistral AI | Llama-3.1-8B-InstructMeta |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 122.0 (best) | 116.4 |
| ECI rank | #153 of 165 (best) | #162 of 165 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 38.8% (best) | 27.0% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 1.9% (best) | 1.7% |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.50 | $0.06 (best) |
| Output | $1.50 | $0.08 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.05 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.75 | $0.065 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Mistral API | Median of 17 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 102,400 tokens (best) | 4,096 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | Yes | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | mistral-large-latest | — |
| API providers | 11 | 18 (best) |
| Released | Feb 26, 2024 | Jul 23, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Nov 30, 2024 | Dec 2023 |
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
- Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct$0.76
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Mistral Large or Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct?
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against Mistral Large (44). It leads on price. Mistral Large wins on capability and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Mistral Large or Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct?
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is cheaper at $0.06 input / $0.08 output per million tokens (median across 17 API providers). Mistral Large costs $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.065 per million tokens for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct versus $0.75 for Mistral Large (12× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Mistral Large scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Mistral Large 122.0 (#153 of 165) and Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 116.4 (#162 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (115.7–124.8 vs 107.0–121.6), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Mistral Large 38.8%, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 27.0%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Mistral Large 1.9%, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 1.7%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mistral Large and Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Mistral Large leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Mistral Large and Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct share the same 128,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: Mistral Large up to 102,400, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct up to 4,096 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Mistral Large accepts text and PDFs; Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct accepts text. Mistral Large handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Mistral Large is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is the newest, released Jul 23, 2024. Mistral Large came out Feb 26, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Large Nov 30, 2024, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct Dec 2023.
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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