LLM Reference

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 vs Mistral Medium 3 Instruct

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 (2025) and Mistral Medium 3 Instruct (2025) are compact production models from NVIDIA AI and MistralAI. Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 ships a 4k-token context window, while Mistral Medium 3 Instruct ships a 128k-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.

Mistral Medium 3 Instruct fits 32x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 for tighter calls.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalLlama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1Mistral Medium 3 Instruct
Best forgeneral production evaluationmultimodal apps and provider-routed production
Decision fitGeneralLong context and Vision
Context window4k128k
Cheapest output-$2/1M tokens
Provider routes1 tracked2 tracked
Shared benchmarks0 shared0 shared

Decision tradeoffs

Choose Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 when...
  • Use Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 when your own prompt tests beat the comparison signals; the local data does not show a decisive standalone advantage yet.
Choose Mistral Medium 3 Instruct when...
  • Mistral Medium 3 Instruct has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
  • Mistral Medium 3 Instruct has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
  • Mistral Medium 3 Instruct uniquely exposes Vision and Multimodal in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags Mistral Medium 3 Instruct for Long context and Vision.

Monthly cost at traffic

Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1

Unavailable

No complete token price in local provider data

Mistral Medium 3 Instruct

$820

Cheapest tracked route/tier: Mistral AI Studio

Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.

Switch friction

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 -> Mistral Medium 3 Instruct
  • Provider overlap exists on NVIDIA NIM; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • Mistral Medium 3 Instruct adds Vision and Multimodal in local capability data.
Mistral Medium 3 Instruct -> Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1
  • Provider overlap exists on NVIDIA NIM; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • Check replacement coverage for Vision and Multimodal before moving production traffic.

Specs

Specification
Released2025-04-012025-10-01
Context window4k128k
Parameters4B
ArchitectureDecoder OnlyDecoder Only
LicenseLlama 3 CommunityProprietary
OpennessOpen weightsProprietary
WeightsUnknownNot released
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: conditionalCommercial use: conditional
Knowledge cutoff-2025-03

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeLlama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1Mistral Medium 3 Instruct
Input price-$0.40/1M tokens
Output price-$2/1M tokens
Providers

Capabilities

CapabilityLlama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1Mistral Medium 3 Instruct
VisionNoYes
MultimodalNoYes
ReasoningNoNo
Function callingNoNo
Tool useNoNo
Structured outputsNoNo
Code executionNoNo
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useNoNo
Parallel agentsNoNo

Benchmarks

No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.

Deep dive

The capability footprint differs most on vision: Mistral Medium 3 Instruct and multimodal input: Mistral Medium 3 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: Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 has no token price sourced yet and Mistral Medium 3 Instruct has $0.40/1M input tokens. Provider availability is 1 tracked routes versus 2. Treat unknown pricing as an integration gap, then verify the route you will actually call before estimating production spend.

Choose Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 when provider fit are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Medium 3 Instruct when long-context analysis, larger context windows, 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

Which has a larger context window, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 or Mistral Medium 3 Instruct?

Mistral Medium 3 Instruct supports 128k tokens, while Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 supports 4k tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.

Is Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 or Mistral Medium 3 Instruct open source?

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 is listed under Llama 3 Community. Mistral Medium 3 Instruct is listed under Proprietary. 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, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 or Mistral Medium 3 Instruct?

Mistral Medium 3 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, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 or Mistral Medium 3 Instruct?

Mistral Medium 3 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 Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 and Mistral Medium 3 Instruct?

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 is available on NVIDIA NIM. Mistral Medium 3 Instruct is available on NVIDIA NIM and Mistral AI Studio. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.

When should I pick Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 over Mistral Medium 3 Instruct?

Mistral Medium 3 Instruct fits 32x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 for tighter calls. If your workload also depends on provider fit, start with Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1; if it depends on long-context analysis, run the same evaluation with Mistral Medium 3 Instruct.

Continue comparing

Last reviewed: 2026-06-15. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.