Model Comparison

Codestral-22B vs Pixtral LargeWhich is better in 2026?

Comparing Codestral-22B and Pixtral Large across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Verdict: Codestral-22B vs Pixtral Large — which is better?

Codestral-22B (by Mistral AI) and Pixtral Large (by Mistral AI) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

Choose Codestral-22B if…

  • you are already invested in the Mistral AI ecosystem

Choose Pixtral Large if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2024

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Codestral-22B and Pixtral Largedon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

101.8B diff

Pixtral Large has 101.8B more parameters than Codestral-22B, making it 458.6% larger.

Mistral AI
Codestral-22B
22.2Bparameters
Mistral AI
Pixtral Large
124.0Bparameters
22.2B
Codestral-22B
124.0B
Pixtral Large

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Pixtral Large specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Pixtral Large specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

Mistral AI
Codestral-22B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Mistral AI
Pixtral Large
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Thu Jul 02 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Pixtral Large supports multimodal inputs, whereas Codestral-22B does not.

Pixtral Large can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Codestral-22B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Pixtral Large

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Codestral-22B is licensed under MNPL-0.1, while Pixtral Large uses Mistral Research License (MRL) for research; Mistral Commercial License for commercial use.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Codestral-22B

MNPL-0.1

Open weights

Pixtral Large

Mistral Research License (MRL) for research; Mistral Commercial License for commercial use

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Codestral-22B was released on 2024-05-29, while Pixtral Large was released on 2024-11-18.

Pixtral Large is 6 months newer than Codestral-22B.

Codestral-22B

May 29, 2024

2.1 years ago

Pixtral Large

Nov 18, 2024

1.6 years ago

5mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Mistral AI

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

Mistral AI
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Codestral-22B and Pixtral Large side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Codestral-22B
✓ Preferred
Pixtral Large
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Mistral AI
Codestral-22B
Mistral AI
Pixtral Large

FAQ

Common questions about Codestral-22B vs Pixtral Large.

Which is better, Codestral-22B or Pixtral Large?

Codestral-22B (Mistral AI) and Pixtral Large (Mistral AI) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Codestral-22B compare to Pixtral Large in benchmarks?

Codestral-22B scores HumanEvalFIM-Average: 91.6%, HumanEval: 81.1%, MBPP: 78.2%, Spider: 63.5%, HumanEval-Average: 61.5%. Pixtral Large scores AI2D: 93.8%, DocVQA: 93.3%, ChartQA: 88.1%, VQAv2: 80.9%, MM-MT-Bench: 74.0%.

What are the context window sizes for Codestral-22B and Pixtral Large?

Codestral-22B supports an unknown number of tokens and Pixtral Large supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Codestral-22B and Pixtral Large?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (MNPL-0.1 vs Mistral Research License (MRL) for research; Mistral Commercial License for commercial use). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

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