Model Comparison
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) vs Qwen2 72B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Verdict: Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) vs Qwen2 72B Instruct — which is better?
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) (by Mistral AI) and Qwen2 72B Instruct (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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.
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Qwen2 72B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks. Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Choose Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025
Choose Qwen2 72B Instruct if…
- you are already invested in the Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team ecosystem
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Qwen2 72B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) has 603.0B more parameters than Qwen2 72B Instruct, making it 837.5% larger.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen2 72B Instruct does not.
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4)
Qwen2 72B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Qwen2 72B Instruct uses tongyi-qianwen.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
tongyi-qianwen
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) was released on 2025-12-04, while Qwen2 72B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) is 17 months newer than Qwen2 72B Instruct.
Dec 4, 2025
7 months ago
1.4yr newerJul 23, 2024
2.0 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Qwen2 72B Instruct
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) and Qwen2 72B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512 NVFP4) vs Qwen2 72B Instruct.
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