Saba vs Hermes 3 405B Instruct
Saba comes out ahead, 46 to 29 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Mistral AISaba
46/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $0.60
- Context33K
Nous ResearchHermes 3 405B Instruct
29/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $1.00
- Context131K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Saba is our pick
Saba is the better all-round choice, scoring 46/100 against Hermes 3 405B Instruct (29). It leads on price and inputs & features. Hermes 3 405B Instruct wins on 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 priceSabaSaba $0.30 · Hermes 3 405B Instruct $1.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextHermes 3 405B InstructHermes 3 405B Instruct 131,072 · Saba 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsSabaSaba: Text, PDFs · Hermes 3 405B Instruct: Text
- Self-hostingHermes 3 405B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Saba | Hermes 3 405B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 72 | 48 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 0 |
| Context window | 20% | 0 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 46/100 | 29/100 |
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 | SabaMistral AI | Hermes 3 405B InstructNous Research |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.20 (best) | $1.00 |
| Output | $0.60 (best) | $1.00 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.30 (best) | $1.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 4 providers | Median of 5 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 32,768 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 26,214 tokens (best) | 16,384 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 | No |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | 4 | 5 (best) |
| Released | Feb 17, 2025 | Aug 16, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 30, 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Saba$3.20
- Hermes 3 405B Instruct$12.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Saba or Hermes 3 405B Instruct?
Saba is the better all-round choice, scoring 46/100 against Hermes 3 405B Instruct (29). It leads on price and inputs & features. Hermes 3 405B Instruct wins on 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, Saba or Hermes 3 405B Instruct?
Saba is cheaper at $0.20 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). 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 $0.30 per million tokens for Saba versus $1.00 for Hermes 3 405B Instruct (3.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Saba has not been scored yet and Hermes 3 405B Instruct has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Saba and Hermes 3 405B Instruct 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 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 32,768 for Saba. Maximum output per response: Saba up to 26,214, Hermes 3 405B Instruct up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Saba accepts text and PDFs; Hermes 3 405B Instruct accepts text. Saba handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Hermes 3 405B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Saba is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Saba is the newest, released Feb 17, 2025. Hermes 3 405B Instruct came out Aug 16, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Saba Sep 30, 2024, Hermes 3 405B Instruct Dec 31, 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.
