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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct vs Mistral Large 3

Mistral Large 3 comes out ahead, 50 to 39 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct

    Released Sep 2025

    39/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.50 / $2.00
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct
  2. Our pick

    Mistral AI

    Mistral Large 3

    Released Dec 2, 2025

    50/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.50 / $1.50
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Mistral Large 3

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Mistral Large 3 is our pick

Mistral Large 3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct (39). 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 priceMistral Large 3Mistral Large 3 $0.75 · Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct $0.875 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextMistral Large 3Mistral Large 3 262,144 · Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsMistral Large 3Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct: Text · Mistral Large 3: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructMistral Large 3
Price50%5356
Inputs & features30%2550
Context window20%2437
Overall100%39/10050/100

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.

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct vs Mistral Large 3 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)Mistral Large 3Mistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.50$0.50
Output$2.00$1.50 (best)
Cached input—$0.05
Blended (3:1)$0.875$0.75 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens262,144 tokens (best)
Max output32,768 tokens262,144 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDqwen3-next-80b-a3b-instructmistral-large-2512
API providers1313
ReleasedSep 2025Dec 2, 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 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.

  • Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct$9.00
  • Mistral Large 3$8.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct or Mistral Large 3?

Mistral Large 3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct (39). 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, Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct or Mistral Large 3?

Mistral Large 3 is cheaper at $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct costs $0.50 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba 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 $0.875 for Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct (1.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 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 Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 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 Large 3 has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct. Maximum output per response: Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct up to 32,768, Mistral Large 3 up to 262,144 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct accepts text; Mistral Large 3 accepts text and images. Mistral Large 3 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?

Mistral Large 3 is the newest, released Dec 2, 2025. Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct came out Sep 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct Apr 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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