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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Mistral Medium 3.1 vs Mistral Large 3

Too close to call on our weighted score (Mistral Large 3 50, Mistral Medium 3.1 50). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. Mistral AI

    Mistral Medium 3.1

    Released Aug 12, 2025

    50/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.40 / $2.00
    • Context262K
  2. Mistral AI

    Mistral Large 3

    Released Dec 2, 2025

    50/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.50 / $1.50
    • Context262K
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01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Mistral Large 3 50/100, Mistral Medium 3.1 50/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Mistral Large 3 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 priceMistral Large 3Mistral Large 3 $0.75 · Mistral Medium 3.1 $0.80 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameMistral Medium 3.1 262,144 · Mistral Large 3 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsMistral Medium 3.1: Text, Images · Mistral Large 3: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingMistral Large 3Publishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightMistral Medium 3.1Mistral Large 3
Price50%5456
Inputs & features30%5050
Context window20%3737
Overall100%50/10050/100

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 Medium 3.1 vs Mistral Large 3 specifications side by side
SpecificationMistral Medium 3.1Mistral AIMistral Large 3Mistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.40 (best)$0.50
Output$2.00$1.50 (best)
Cached input—$0.05
Blended (3:1)$0.80$0.75 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Mistral APIOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens262,144 tokens
Max output262,144 tokens262,144 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDmistral-medium-2508mistral-large-2512
API providers113 (best)
ReleasedAug 12, 2025Dec 2, 2025
Knowledge cutoffMay 2025Nov 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 Medium 3.1$8.00
  • Mistral Large 3$8.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Mistral Medium 3.1 or Mistral Large 3?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Mistral Large 3 50/100, Mistral Medium 3.1 50/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Mistral Large 3 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 Medium 3.1 or Mistral Large 3?

Mistral Large 3 is cheaper at $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Mistral Medium 3.1 costs $0.40 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.75 per million tokens for Mistral Large 3 versus $0.80 for Mistral Medium 3.1 (1.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Mistral Medium 3.1 has not been scored yet and Mistral Large 3 has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mistral Medium 3.1 and Mistral Large 3 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Mistral Medium 3.1 and Mistral Large 3 share the same 262,144-token context window. Maximum output per response: Mistral Medium 3.1 up to 262,144, Mistral Large 3 up to 262,144 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Mistral Medium 3.1 accepts text and images; Mistral Large 3 accepts text and images. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Mistral Large 3 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Mistral Medium 3.1 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Mistral Large 3 is the newest, released Dec 2, 2025. Mistral Medium 3.1 came out Aug 12, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Medium 3.1 May 2025, Mistral Large 3 Nov 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.