Falcon 180B vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct
Falcon 180B (2023) and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct (2025) are compact production models from Technology Innovation Institute (TII) and MistralAI. Falcon 180B ships a not-yet-sourced context window, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct ships a 128K-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct is safer overall; choose Falcon 180B when provider fit matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Falcon 180B | Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Decision fit | Coding and Classification | RAG, Long context, and Vision |
| Context window | — | 128K |
| Cheapest output | - | $0.3/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 2 tracked | 5 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Local decision data tags Falcon 180B for Coding and Classification.
- Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct for RAG, Long context, and Vision.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output prices on this page.
Falcon 180B
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct
$155
Cheapest tracked route: Together AI
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Falcon 180B and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct adds Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs in local capability data.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct and Falcon 180B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2023-11-28 | 2025-12-15 |
| Context window | — | 128K |
| Parameters | 180B | 24B |
| Architecture | decoder only | dense |
| License | Apache 2.0 | Apache 2.0 |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | 2023-10 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Falcon 180B | Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | - | $0.1/1M tokens |
| Output price | - | $0.3/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Falcon 180B | Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | No | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark rows are currently sourced for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on vision: Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct, multimodal input: Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct, and structured outputs: Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct. Both models share the core language-model surface, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
Pricing coverage is uneven: Falcon 180B has no token price sourced yet and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct has $0.1/1M input tokens. Provider availability is 2 tracked routes versus 5. Treat unknown pricing as an integration gap, then verify the route you will actually call before estimating production spend.
Choose Falcon 180B when provider fit are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct when vision-heavy evaluation and broader provider choice are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship. This keeps the decision grounded in measurable tradeoffs instead of brand-level assumptions. It also helps separate model capability from provider packaging, which can change cost and latency.
FAQ
Is Falcon 180B or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct open source?
Falcon 180B is listed under Apache 2.0. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct is listed under Apache 2.0. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for vision, Falcon 180B or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct?
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct has the clearer documented vision signal in this comparison. If vision is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for multimodal input, Falcon 180B or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct?
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct has the clearer documented multimodal input signal in this comparison. If multimodal input is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for structured outputs, Falcon 180B or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct?
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct has the clearer documented structured outputs signal in this comparison. If structured outputs is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Falcon 180B and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct?
Falcon 180B is available on Alibaba Cloud PAI-EAS and Scale AI GenAI Platform. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct is available on OpenRouter, Fireworks AI, NVIDIA NIM, Together AI, and Mistral AI Studio. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
When should I pick Falcon 180B over Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct?
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct is safer overall; choose Falcon 180B when provider fit matters. If your workload also depends on provider fit, start with Falcon 180B; if it depends on vision-heavy evaluation, run the same evaluation with Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct.
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Last reviewed: 2026-05-19. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.