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LongCat-Flash-Lite vs Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is 1.2x cheaper per token.

Meituan · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

LongCat-Flash-Lite outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is better at 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, AIME 2025, GPQA). Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is roughly 1.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) also accepts a larger context window (262,100 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose LongCat-Flash-Lite

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Feb 2026

Choose Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
  • cost matters — it's about 1.2x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 262,100 token context window

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

LongCat-Flash-Lite
Meituan
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
Mistral AI
Benchmark wins
0 of 3
3 of 3
Input price
$0.10 / M
$0.15 / M
Output price
$0.40 / M
$0.15 / M
Context window
256,000
262,100
Released
Feb 2026
Dec 2025
License
MIT
Apache 2.0

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

LongCat-Flash-Lite outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is better at 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, AIME 2025, GPQA).

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Mon Aug 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) costs less

For input processing, LongCat-Flash-Lite ($0.10/1M tokens) is 1.5x cheaper than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) ($0.15/1M tokens).

For output processing, LongCat-Flash-Lite ($0.40/1M tokens) is 2.7x more expensive than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) ($0.15/1M tokens).

In conclusion, LongCat-Flash-Lite is more expensive than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512).*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Mon Aug 24 2026 • llm-stats.com
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Lite
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.40
Best providerMeituan
Mistral AI
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
Input tokens$0.15
Output tokens$0.15
Best providerMistral
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

60.5B diff

LongCat-Flash-Lite has 60.5B more parameters than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512), making it 756.3% larger.

Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Lite
68.5Bparameters
Mistral AI
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
8.0Bparameters
68.5B
LongCat-Flash-Lite
8.0B
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) accepts 262,100 input tokens compared to LongCat-Flash-Lite's 256,000 tokens. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) can generate longer responses up to 262,100 tokens, while LongCat-Flash-Lite is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Lite
Input256,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Mistral AI
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
Input262,100 tokens
Output262,100 tokens
Mon Aug 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) supports multimodal inputs, whereas LongCat-Flash-Lite does not.

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

LongCat-Flash-Lite

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

LongCat-Flash-Lite is licensed under MIT, while Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) uses Apache 2.0.

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

LongCat-Flash-Lite

MIT

Open weights

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

LongCat-Flash-Lite was released on 2026-02-05, while Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) was released on 2025-12-04.

LongCat-Flash-Lite is 2 months newer than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512).

LongCat-Flash-Lite

Feb 5, 2026

6 months ago

2mo newer
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Dec 4, 2025

8 months ago

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

LongCat-Flash-Lite is available from Meituan. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is available from Mistral AI.

LongCat-Flash-Lite

meituan logo
Meituan
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.40/1M

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.15/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against LongCat-Flash-Lite and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

LongCat-Flash-Lite
✓ Preferred
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about LongCat-Flash-Lite vs Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512).

Which is better, LongCat-Flash-Lite or Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. LongCat-Flash-Lite is made by Meituan and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is made by Mistral AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does LongCat-Flash-Lite compare to Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) in benchmarks?

LongCat-Flash-Lite scores MATH-500: 96.8%, MMLU: 85.5%, CMMLU: 82.5%, MMLU-Pro: 78.3%, Tau2 Retail: 73.1%. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) scores AIME 2024: 86.0%, AIME 2025: 78.7%, GPQA: 66.8%, LiveCodeBench: 61.6%.

Is LongCat-Flash-Lite cheaper than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

LongCat-Flash-Lite is 1.5x cheaper for input tokens. LongCat-Flash-Lite costs $0.10/M input and $0.40/M output via meituan. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) costs $0.15/M input and $0.15/M output via mistral.

What are the context window sizes for LongCat-Flash-Lite and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

LongCat-Flash-Lite supports 256K tokens and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 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 LongCat-Flash-Lite and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

Key differences include context window (256K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.10 vs $0.15/M), multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (MIT vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes LongCat-Flash-Lite and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

LongCat-Flash-Lite is developed by Meituan and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is developed by Mistral AI.

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