Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 (2025) and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct (2025) are compact production models from AI at Meta and MistralAI. Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 ships a 1m-token context window, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B 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 Small 3.1 24B Instruct is ~50% cheaper at $0.10/1M; pay for Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 only for long-context analysis.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 | Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps, long-context analysis, and provider-routed production | multimodal apps and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | RAG, Long context, and Vision |
| Context window | 1m | 128k |
| Cheapest output | $0.60/1M tokens | $0.30/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 10 tracked | 6 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Local decision data tags Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.30/1M tokens.
- 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 route or tier on this page.
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8
$270
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct
$155
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Together AI
Estimated monthly gap: $115. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter, Fireworks AI, and NVIDIA NIM; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct is $0.30/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Provider overlap exists on Together AI, OpenRouter, and Fireworks AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 is $0.30/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-04-05 | 2025-12-15 |
| Context window | 1m | 128k |
| Parameters | 400B (17B active) | 24B |
| Architecture | Mixture of Experts | Decoder Only |
| License | Llama 4 Community | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open weights | Open source |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-08 | 2023-10 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 | Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.15/1M tokens | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.60/1M tokens | $0.30/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 | Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint is close: both models cover vision, multimodal input, and structured outputs. That makes context budget, benchmark fit, and provider maturity more important than a simple checklist. If your application depends on one integration detail, verify it against the provider route you plan to use, not just the base model listing.
For cost, Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 lists $0.15/1M input and $0.60/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct lists $0.10/1M input and $0.30/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct lower by about $0.13 per million blended tokens. Availability is 10 providers versus 6, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 when long-context analysis, larger context windows, and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct when vision-heavy evaluation and lower input-token cost 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.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 supports 1m 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, Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct?
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 costs $0.15/1M input and $0.60/1M output tokens. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct costs $0.10/1M input and $0.30/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct open source?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 is listed under Llama 4 Community. 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, Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct?
Both Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct expose vision. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Which is better for multimodal input, Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct?
Both Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct expose multimodal input. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Where can I run Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 is available on Microsoft Foundry, Together AI, OpenRouter, Fireworks AI, and DeepInfra. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct is available on Cloudflare Workers AI, OpenRouter, Fireworks AI, NVIDIA NIM, and Together AI. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-15. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.