Gemma 3n E4B Instructed vs Ministral 8B Instruct
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed and Ministral 8B Instruct are closely matched at -4.5 and -4.5 on the LLM Stats Score. Ministral 8B Instruct is 250.0x cheaper per token.
Google · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed and Ministral 8B Instruct are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at -4.5 and -4.5.
The models split the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models evenly.
On price, Ministral 8B Instruct is roughly 250.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Ministral 8B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (128,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Gemma 3n E4B Instructed
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2025
Choose Ministral 8B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 250.0x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 128,000 token context window
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
18 reported for Gemma 3n E4B Instructed · 11 for Ministral 8B Instruct
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed outperforms in 1 benchmarks (HumanEval), while Ministral 8B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (MMLU).
Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Gemma 3n E4B Instructed ($20.00/1M tokens) is 200.0x more expensive than Ministral 8B Instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, Gemma 3n E4B Instructed ($40.00/1M tokens) is 400.0x more expensive than Ministral 8B Instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Gemma 3n E4B Instructed is more expensive than Ministral 8B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Ministral 8B Instruct has 0.0B more parameters than Gemma 3n E4B Instructed, making it 0.2% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Ministral 8B Instruct accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to Gemma 3n E4B Instructed's 32,000 tokens. Ministral 8B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Gemma 3n E4B Instructed is limited to 32,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed supports multimodal inputs, whereas Ministral 8B Instruct does not.
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed
Ministral 8B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed is licensed under a proprietary license, while Ministral 8B Instruct uses Mistral Research License.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Mistral Research License
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed was released on 2025-06-26, while Ministral 8B Instruct was released on 2024-10-16.
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed is 8 months newer than Ministral 8B Instruct.
Jun 26, 2025
1.2 years ago
8mo newerOct 16, 2024
1.9 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Ministral 8B Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Gemma 3n E4B Instructed's training data extends to 2024-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Ministral 8B Instruct's cutoff date.
Jun 2024
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Provider Availability
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed is available from Together. Ministral 8B Instruct is available from Mistral AI.
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed
Ministral 8B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Gemma 3n E4B Instructed and Ministral 8B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Gemma 3n E4B Instructed vs Ministral 8B Instruct.