Pixtral 12B vs Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct
Pixtral 12B comes out ahead, 64 to 56 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Mistral AIPixtral 12B
64/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context128K
MetaLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct
56/100- ECI116.6
- Price$0.152 / $0.167
- Context128K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Pixtral 12B is our pick
Pixtral 12B is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (56). 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 pricePixtral 12BPixtral 12B $0.15 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct $0.156 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the samePixtral 12B 128,000 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsPixtral 12BPixtral 12B: Text, Images · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Pixtral 12B | Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 89 | 88 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 50 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 64/100 | 56/100 |
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 | Pixtral 12BMistral AI | Llama-3.1-8B-InstructMeta |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | 116.6 |
| ECI rank | — | #145 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 27.0% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 1.7% |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.15 (best) | $0.152 |
| Output | $0.15 (best) | $0.167 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.15 (best) | $0.156 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Mistral API | Median of 9 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens (best) | 4,096 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | Open |
| API model ID | pixtral-12b | — |
| API providers | 4 | 9 (best) |
| Released | Sep 1, 2024 | Jul 23, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 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.
- Pixtral 12B$1.80
- Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct$1.85
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Pixtral 12B or Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct?
Pixtral 12B is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (56). 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, Pixtral 12B or Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct?
Pixtral 12B is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct costs $0.152 input / $0.167 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for Pixtral 12B versus $0.156 for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Pixtral 12B has not been scored yet and Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct has an ECI of 116.6.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Pixtral 12B and Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 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?
Pixtral 12B and Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct share the same 128,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: Pixtral 12B up to 128,000, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct up to 4,096 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Pixtral 12B accepts text and images; Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct accepts text. Pixtral 12B handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Pixtral 12B is the newest, released Sep 1, 2024. Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct came out Jul 23, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Pixtral 12B Sep 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 Oct 4, 2026.
