Model Comparison

Ministral 8B Instruct vs Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Comparing Ministral 8B Instruct and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Ministral 8B Instruct and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) don'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

Ministral 8B Instruct costs less

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

For output processing, Ministral 8B Instruct ($0.10/1M tokens) is 1.5x cheaper than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) ($0.15/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is more expensive than Ministral 8B Instruct.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Fri May 15 2026 • llm-stats.com
Mistral AI
Ministral 8B Instruct
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.10
Best providerMistral
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

19.8M diff

Ministral 8B Instruct has 0.0B more parameters than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512), making it 0.2% larger.

Mistral AI
Ministral 8B Instruct
8.0Bparameters
Mistral AI
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
8.0Bparameters
8.0B
Ministral 8B Instruct
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 Ministral 8B Instruct's 128,000 tokens. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) can generate longer responses up to 262,100 tokens, while Ministral 8B Instruct is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Mistral AI
Ministral 8B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Mistral AI
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
Input262,100 tokens
Output262,100 tokens
Fri May 15 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) supports multimodal inputs, whereas Ministral 8B Instruct does not.

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

Ministral 8B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Ministral 8B Instruct is licensed under Mistral Research License, 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.

Ministral 8B Instruct

Mistral Research License

Open weights

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Ministral 8B Instruct was released on 2024-10-16, while Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) was released on 2025-12-04.

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is 14 months newer than Ministral 8B Instruct.

Ministral 8B Instruct

Oct 16, 2024

1.6 years ago

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Dec 4, 2025

5 months ago

1.1yr 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

Ministral 8B Instruct is available from Mistral AI. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is available from Mistral AI.

Ministral 8B Instruct

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.10/1M

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

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Key Takeaways

Mistral AI
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Mistral AI
Larger context window (262,100 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Mistral AI
Ministral 8B Instruct
Mistral AI
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

FAQ

Common questions about Ministral 8B Instruct vs Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512).

Which is better, Ministral 8B Instruct or Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

Ministral 8B Instruct (Mistral AI) and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) (Mistral AI) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Ministral 8B Instruct compare to Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) in benchmarks?

Ministral 8B Instruct scores MT-Bench: 83.0%, Winogrande: 75.3%, ARC-C: 71.9%, Arena Hard: 70.9%, MBPP pass@1: 70.0%. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) scores AIME 2024: 86.0%, AIME 2025: 78.7%, GPQA: 66.8%, LiveCodeBench: 61.6%.

Is Ministral 8B Instruct cheaper than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

Ministral 8B Instruct is 1.5x cheaper for input tokens. Ministral 8B Instruct costs $0.10/M input and $0.10/M output via mistral. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) costs $0.15/M input and $0.15/M output via mistral.

What are the context window sizes for Ministral 8B Instruct and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

Ministral 8B Instruct supports 128K 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 Ministral 8B Instruct and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

Key differences include context window (128K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.10 vs $0.15/M), multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Mistral Research License vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.