Granite 3.3 8B Instruct vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct (2025) and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct (2025) are compact production models from IBM Research and MistralAI. Granite 3.3 8B Instruct ships a 128K-token context window, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct ships a 128K-token context window. On pricing, Granite 3.3 8B Instruct costs $0.03/1M input tokens versus $0.1/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is ~233% cheaper at $0.03/1M; pay for Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct only for vision-heavy evaluation.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Granite 3.3 8B Instruct | Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Decision fit | RAG, Agents, and Long context | RAG, Long context, and Vision |
| Context window | 128K | 128K |
| Cheapest output | $0.25/1M tokens | $0.3/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 2 tracked | 5 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Granite 3.3 8B Instruct has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.25/1M tokens.
- Granite 3.3 8B Instruct uniquely exposes Function calling and Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Granite 3.3 8B Instruct for RAG, Agents, and Long context.
- 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.
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
$86.50
Cheapest tracked route: Replicate API
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct
$155
Cheapest tracked route: Together AI
Estimated monthly gap: $68.50. Batch, cache, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on NVIDIA NIM; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct is $0.05/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Function calling and Tool use before moving production traffic.
- Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct adds Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on NVIDIA NIM; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is $0.05/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- Granite 3.3 8B Instruct adds Function calling and Tool use in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-03-01 | 2025-12-15 |
| Context window | 128K | 128K |
| Parameters | 8B | 24B |
| Architecture | decoder only | dense |
| License | Apache 2.0 | Apache 2.0 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-04 | 2023-10 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Granite 3.3 8B Instruct | Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.03/1M tokens | $0.1/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.25/1M tokens | $0.3/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Granite 3.3 8B Instruct | Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | Yes | No |
| Tool use | Yes | 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, function calling: Granite 3.3 8B Instruct, tool use: Granite 3.3 8B 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.
For cost, Granite 3.3 8B Instruct lists $0.03/1M input and $0.25/1M output tokens, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct lists $0.1/1M input and $0.3/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Granite 3.3 8B Instruct lower by about $0.06 per million blended tokens. Availability is 2 providers versus 5, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Granite 3.3 8B Instruct when provider fit and lower input-token cost 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.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Granite 3.3 8B Instruct or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct?
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct supports 128K tokens, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct supports 128K tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Granite 3.3 8B Instruct or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct?
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Granite 3.3 8B Instruct costs $0.03/1M input and $0.25/1M output tokens. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct costs $0.1/1M input and $0.3/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Granite 3.3 8B Instruct or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct open source?
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct 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, Granite 3.3 8B Instruct 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, Granite 3.3 8B Instruct 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.
Where can I run Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct?
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is available on NVIDIA NIM and Replicate API. 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.
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Last reviewed: 2026-05-11. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.