Model Comparison

Ministral 8B Instruct vs Mistral Large 3

Mistral Large 3 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Ministral 8B Instruct is 27.5x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

Ministral 8B Instruct outperforms in 1 benchmarks (Arena Hard), while Mistral Large 3 is better at 2 benchmarks (MATH, TriviaQA).

Mistral Large 3 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Tue May 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

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 20.0x cheaper than Mistral Large 3 ($2.00/1M tokens).

For output processing, Ministral 8B Instruct ($0.10/1M tokens) is 50.0x cheaper than Mistral Large 3 ($5.00/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Mistral Large 3 is more expensive than Ministral 8B Instruct.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue May 26 2026 • llm-stats.com
Mistral AI
Ministral 8B Instruct
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.10
Best providerMistral
Mistral AI
Mistral Large 3
Input tokens$2.00
Output tokens$5.00
Best providerMistral
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

667.0B diff

Mistral Large 3 has 667.0B more parameters than Ministral 8B Instruct, making it 8316.7% larger.

Mistral AI
Ministral 8B Instruct
8.0Bparameters
Mistral AI
Mistral Large 3
675.0Bparameters
8.0B
Ministral 8B Instruct
675.0B
Mistral Large 3

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Both models have the same input context window of 128,000 tokens. Ministral 8B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Mistral Large 3 is limited to 8,192 tokens.

Mistral AI
Ministral 8B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Mistral AI
Mistral Large 3
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Tue May 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Mistral Large 3 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Ministral 8B Instruct does not.

Mistral Large 3 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Ministral 8B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Large 3

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Ministral 8B Instruct is licensed under Mistral Research 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.

Ministral 8B Instruct

Mistral Research License

Open weights

Mistral Large 3

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Ministral 8B Instruct was released on 2024-10-16, while Mistral Large 3 was released on 2025-09-01.

Mistral Large 3 is 11 months newer than Ministral 8B Instruct.

Ministral 8B Instruct

Oct 16, 2024

1.6 years ago

Mistral Large 3

Sep 1, 2025

8 months ago

10mo 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. Mistral Large 3 is available from Mistral AI.

Ministral 8B Instruct

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

Mistral Large 3

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $2.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $5.00/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Mistral AI
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Higher Arena Hard score (70.9% vs 55.1%)
Mistral AI
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher MATH score (90.4% vs 54.5%)
Higher TriviaQA score (74.9% vs 65.5%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Mistral AI
Ministral 8B Instruct
Mistral AI
Mistral Large 3

FAQ

Common questions about Ministral 8B Instruct vs Mistral Large 3.

Which is better, Ministral 8B Instruct or Mistral Large 3?

Mistral Large 3 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Ministral 8B Instruct is made by Mistral AI and Mistral Large 3 is made by Mistral AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Ministral 8B Instruct compare to Mistral Large 3 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%. Mistral Large 3 scores MATH: 90.4%, MM-MT-Bench: 84.9%, MMLU-Redux: 82.0%, TriviaQA: 74.9%, MMMLU: 74.2%.

Is Ministral 8B Instruct cheaper than Mistral Large 3?

Ministral 8B Instruct is 20.0x cheaper for input tokens. Ministral 8B Instruct costs $0.10/M input and $0.10/M output via mistral. Mistral Large 3 costs $2.00/M input and $5.00/M output via mistral.

What are the context window sizes for Ministral 8B Instruct and Mistral Large 3?

Ministral 8B Instruct supports 128K tokens and Mistral Large 3 supports 128K 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 Mistral Large 3?

Key differences include input pricing ($0.10 vs $2.00/M), multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Mistral Research License vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.