Model Comparison

GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Ministral 8B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

GPT-3.5 Turbo shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Ministral 8B Instruct is 7.5x cheaper per token.

Verdict: GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Ministral 8B Instruct — which is better?

GPT-3.5 Turbo (by OpenAI) and Ministral 8B Instruct (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 2 benchmarks (HumanEval, MMLU), while Ministral 8B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (MATH). GPT-3.5 Turbo shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

On price, Ministral 8B Instruct is roughly 7.5x 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.

Choose GPT-3.5 Turbo if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 3 shared benchmarks

Choose Ministral 8B Instruct if…

  • cost matters — it's about 7.5x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 128,000 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Oct 2024
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 2 benchmarks (HumanEval, MMLU), while Ministral 8B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (MATH).

GPT-3.5 Turbo shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Wed Jun 10 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Ministral 8B Instruct costs less

For input processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($0.50/1M tokens) is 5.0x more expensive than Ministral 8B Instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).

For output processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($1.50/1M tokens) is 15.0x more expensive than Ministral 8B Instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).

In conclusion, GPT-3.5 Turbo is more expensive than Ministral 8B Instruct.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Wed Jun 10 2026 • llm-stats.com
OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Input tokens$0.50
Output tokens$1.50
Best providerAzure
Mistral AI
Ministral 8B Instruct
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.10
Best providerMistral
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Ministral 8B Instruct accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo's 16,385 tokens. Ministral 8B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while GPT-3.5 Turbo is limited to 4,096 tokens.

OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Input16,385 tokens
Output4,096 tokens
Mistral AI
Ministral 8B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Wed Jun 10 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

GPT-3.5 Turbo 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.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Proprietary

Closed source

Ministral 8B Instruct

Mistral Research License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21, while Ministral 8B Instruct was released on 2024-10-16.

Ministral 8B Instruct is 19 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Mar 21, 2023

3.2 years ago

Ministral 8B Instruct

Oct 16, 2024

1.6 years ago

1.6yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-3.5 Turbo has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while Ministral 8B Instruct'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 Ministral 8B Instruct's cutoff date.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Sep 2021

Ministral 8B Instruct

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Provider Availability

GPT-3.5 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI. Ministral 8B Instruct is available from Mistral AI.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

azure logo
Azure
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M
openai logo
OpenAI
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M

Ministral 8B Instruct

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.10/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

OpenAI
Higher HumanEval score (68.0% vs 34.8%)
Higher MMLU score (69.8% vs 65.0%)
Mistral AI
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights
Higher MATH score (54.5% vs 43.1%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Mistral AI
Ministral 8B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Ministral 8B Instruct.

Which is better, GPT-3.5 Turbo or Ministral 8B Instruct?

GPT-3.5 Turbo shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. GPT-3.5 Turbo is made by OpenAI and Ministral 8B Instruct 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 Ministral 8B Instruct in benchmarks?

GPT-3.5 Turbo scores DROP: 70.2%, MMLU: 69.8%, HumanEval: 68.0%, MGSM: 56.3%, MATH: 43.1%. Ministral 8B Instruct scores MT-Bench: 83.0%, Winogrande: 75.3%, ARC-C: 71.9%, Arena Hard: 70.9%, MBPP pass@1: 70.0%.

Is GPT-3.5 Turbo cheaper than Ministral 8B Instruct?

Ministral 8B Instruct is 5.0x cheaper for input tokens. GPT-3.5 Turbo costs $0.50/M input and $1.50/M output via azure. Ministral 8B Instruct costs $0.10/M input and $0.10/M output via mistral.

What are the context window sizes for GPT-3.5 Turbo and Ministral 8B Instruct?

GPT-3.5 Turbo supports 16K tokens and Ministral 8B Instruct 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 GPT-3.5 Turbo and Ministral 8B Instruct?

Key differences include context window (16K vs 128K), input pricing ($0.50 vs $0.10/M), licensing (Proprietary vs Mistral Research License). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes GPT-3.5 Turbo and Ministral 8B Instruct?

GPT-3.5 Turbo is developed by OpenAI and Ministral 8B Instruct is developed by Mistral AI.

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