Model Comparison

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)Which is better in 2026?

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) is 1.2x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) — which is better?

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct (by Meta) and Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) (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.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) is better at 0 benchmarks. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) is roughly 1.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) also accepts a larger context window (262,100 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Llama 3.1 405B Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks

Choose Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) if…

  • cost matters — it's about 1.2x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 262,100 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) is better at 0 benchmarks.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Thu Jul 23 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) costs less

For input processing, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct ($0.89/1M tokens) is 1.8x more expensive than Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) ($0.50/1M tokens).

For output processing, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct ($0.89/1M tokens) is 1.7x cheaper than Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) ($1.50/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is more expensive than Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512).*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Thu Jul 23 2026 • llm-stats.com
Meta
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
Input tokens$0.89
Output tokens$0.89
Best providerLambda
Mistral AI
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)
Input tokens$0.50
Output tokens$1.50
Best providerMistral
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

270.0B diff

Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) has 270.0B more parameters than Llama 3.1 405B Instruct, making it 66.7% larger.

Meta
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
405.0Bparameters
Mistral AI
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)
675.0Bparameters
405.0B
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
675.0B
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) accepts 262,100 input tokens compared to Llama 3.1 405B Instruct's 128,000 tokens. Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) can generate longer responses up to 262,100 tokens, while Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Meta
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Mistral AI
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)
Input262,100 tokens
Output262,100 tokens
Thu Jul 23 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) supports multimodal inputs, whereas Llama 3.1 405B Instruct does not.

Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.1 Community License, while Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) uses Apache 2.0.

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

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Llama 3.1 Community License

Open weights

Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23, while Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) was released on 2025-12-04.

Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) is 17 months newer than Llama 3.1 405B Instruct.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

2.0 years ago

Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)

Dec 4, 2025

7 months ago

1.4yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Fireworks, Bedrock, Together, Hyperbolic, Google, Replicate. Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) is available from Mistral AI.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

lambda logo
Lambda
Input Price:Input: $0.89/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.89/1M
deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $1.79/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.79/1M
fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.00/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.00/1M
together logo
Together
Input Price:Input: $3.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.50/1M
hyperbolic logo
Hyperbolic
Input Price:Input: $4.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $4.00/1M
google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $5.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $16.00/1M
replicate logo
Replicate
Input Price:Input: $9.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $9.50/1M

Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Meta
Less expensive output tokens
Higher GPQA score (50.7% vs 43.9%)
Mistral AI
Larger context window (262,100 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Less expensive input tokens

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Llama 3.1 405B Instruct and Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
✓ Preferred
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Meta
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
Mistral AI
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)

FAQ

Common questions about Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512).

Which is better, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct or Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)?

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is made by Meta and Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) is made by Mistral AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Llama 3.1 405B Instruct compare to Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) in benchmarks?

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct scores ARC-C: 96.9%, GSM8k: 96.8%, API-Bank: 92.0%, Multilingual MGSM (CoT): 91.6%, HumanEval: 89.0%. Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) scores MMMLU: 85.5%, AMC_2022_23: 52.0%, GPQA: 43.9%, LiveCodeBench: 34.4%, SimpleQA: 23.8%.

Is Llama 3.1 405B Instruct cheaper than Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)?

Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) is 1.8x cheaper for input tokens. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct costs $0.89/M input and $0.89/M output via lambda. Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) costs $0.50/M input and $1.50/M output via mistral.

What are the context window sizes for Llama 3.1 405B Instruct and Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)?

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct supports 128K tokens and Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Llama 3.1 405B Instruct and Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)?

Key differences include context window (128K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.89 vs $0.50/M), multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Llama 3.1 Community License vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Llama 3.1 405B Instruct and Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)?

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is developed by Meta and Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) is developed by Mistral AI.

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