Model Comparison
Grok 4.5 vs Mistral Large 3Which is better in 2026?
Comparing Grok 4.5 and Mistral Large 3 across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.
Verdict: Grok 4.5 vs Mistral Large 3 — which is better?
Grok 4.5 (by xAI) and Mistral Large 3 (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.
On price, Mistral Large 3 is roughly 1.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Grok 4.5 also accepts a larger context window (500,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Grok 4.5 if…
- you process long inputs — it offers a 500,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026
Choose Mistral Large 3 if…
- cost matters — it's about 1.1x cheaper per token
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Grok 4.5 and Mistral Large 3don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Grok 4.5 ($2.00/1M tokens) costs the same as Mistral Large 3 ($2.00/1M tokens).
For output processing, Grok 4.5 ($6.00/1M tokens) is 1.2x more expensive than Mistral Large 3 ($5.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Grok 4.5 is more expensive than Mistral Large 3.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Grok 4.5 accepts 500,000 input tokens compared to Mistral Large 3's 128,000 tokens. Only Mistral Large 3 specifies output context (8,192 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Grok 4.5 and Mistral Large 3 support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Grok 4.5
Mistral Large 3
License
Usage and distribution terms
Grok 4.5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Mistral Large 3 uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Grok 4.5 was released on 2026-07-16, while Mistral Large 3 was released on 2025-09-01.
Grok 4.5 is 11 months newer than Mistral Large 3.
Jul 16, 2026
5 days ago
10mo newerSep 1, 2025
10 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Grok 4.5 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-01, while Mistral Large 3's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Grok 4.5's training data extends to 2026-02-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Mistral Large 3's cutoff date.
Feb 2026
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Provider Availability
Grok 4.5 is available from xAI. Mistral Large 3 is available from Mistral AI.
Grok 4.5
Mistral Large 3
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Mistral Large 3
View detailsMistral AI
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Grok 4.5 and Mistral Large 3 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Grok 4.5 vs Mistral Large 3.