GPT-4 vs Ministral 8B Instruct
GPT-4 leads the LLM Stats Score 3.7 to -4.1. Ministral 8B Instruct is 375.0x cheaper per token.
OpenAI · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
GPT-4 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 3.7 to -4.1, ranking #288 overall.
In the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models, GPT-4 wins 3; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Ministral 8B Instruct is roughly 375.0x 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 GPT-4
- overall performance matters — it scores 3.7 and ranks #288 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 3 of 4 exact shared results
Choose Ministral 8B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 375.0x 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
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
12 reported for GPT-4 · 11 for Ministral 8B Instruct
GPT-4 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (HumanEval, MMLU, Winogrande), while Ministral 8B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (MATH).
GPT-4 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, GPT-4 ($30.00/1M tokens) is 300.0x more expensive than Ministral 8B Instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-4 ($60.00/1M tokens) is 600.0x more expensive than Ministral 8B Instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GPT-4 is more expensive than Ministral 8B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Ministral 8B Instruct accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to GPT-4's 32,768 tokens. Ministral 8B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while GPT-4 is limited to 32,768 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
GPT-4 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Ministral 8B Instruct does not.
GPT-4 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
GPT-4
Ministral 8B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
GPT-4 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
GPT-4 was released on 2023-06-13, while Ministral 8B Instruct was released on 2024-10-16.
Ministral 8B Instruct is 16 months newer than GPT-4.
Jun 13, 2023
3.2 years ago
Oct 16, 2024
1.9 years ago
1.3yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-4 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2022-12-31, while Ministral 8B Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm GPT-4's training data extends to 2022-12-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Ministral 8B Instruct's cutoff date.
Dec 2022
—
Provider Availability
GPT-4 is available from Azure, OpenAI. Ministral 8B Instruct is available from Mistral AI.
GPT-4
Ministral 8B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GPT-4 and Ministral 8B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about GPT-4 vs Ministral 8B Instruct.