Model Comparison

GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Codestral-22BWhich is better in 2026?

Codestral-22B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Codestral-22B — which is better?

GPT-3.5 Turbo (by OpenAI) and Codestral-22B (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.

GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Codestral-22B is better at 1 benchmark (HumanEval). Codestral-22B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose GPT-3.5 Turbo if…

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.50/M input and $1.50/M output

Choose Codestral-22B if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped May 2024
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Codestral-22B is better at 1 benchmark (HumanEval).

Codestral-22B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sun Jul 05 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only GPT-3.5 Turbo specifies input context (16,385 tokens). Only GPT-3.5 Turbo specifies output context (4,096 tokens).

OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Input16,385 tokens
Output4,096 tokens
Mistral AI
Codestral-22B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Sun Jul 05 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

GPT-3.5 Turbo is licensed under a proprietary license, while Codestral-22B uses MNPL-0.1.

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

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Proprietary

Closed source

Codestral-22B

MNPL-0.1

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21, while Codestral-22B was released on 2024-05-29.

Codestral-22B is 15 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Mar 21, 2023

3.3 years ago

Codestral-22B

May 29, 2024

2.1 years ago

1.2yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-3.5 Turbo has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while Codestral-22B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm GPT-3.5 Turbo's training data extends to 2021-09-30, but cannot make a direct comparison without Codestral-22B's cutoff date.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Sep 2021

Codestral-22B

—

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

OpenAI
Larger context window (16,385 tokens)
Mistral AI
Has open weights
Higher HumanEval score (81.1% vs 68.0%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against GPT-3.5 Turbo and Codestral-22B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

GPT-3.5 Turbo
✓ Preferred
Codestral-22B
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Mistral AI
Codestral-22B

FAQ

Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Codestral-22B.

Which is better, GPT-3.5 Turbo or Codestral-22B?

Codestral-22B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GPT-3.5 Turbo is made by OpenAI and Codestral-22B is made by Mistral AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does GPT-3.5 Turbo compare to Codestral-22B in benchmarks?

GPT-3.5 Turbo scores DROP: 70.2%, MMLU: 69.8%, HumanEval: 68.0%, MGSM: 56.3%, MATH: 43.1%. Codestral-22B scores HumanEvalFIM-Average: 91.6%, HumanEval: 81.1%, MBPP: 78.2%, Spider: 63.5%, HumanEval-Average: 61.5%.

What are the context window sizes for GPT-3.5 Turbo and Codestral-22B?

GPT-3.5 Turbo supports 16K tokens and Codestral-22B supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between GPT-3.5 Turbo and Codestral-22B?

Key differences include licensing (Proprietary vs MNPL-0.1). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes GPT-3.5 Turbo and Codestral-22B?

GPT-3.5 Turbo is developed by OpenAI and Codestral-22B is developed by Mistral AI.

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