Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct vs Mistral Magistral Small 2509
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct (2025) and Mistral Magistral Small 2509 (2025) are general-purpose language models from AI at Meta and MistralAI. Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct ships a 10m-token context window, while Mistral Magistral Small 2509 ships a not-yet-sourced context window. On pricing, Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct costs $0.08/1M input tokens versus $0.50/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct is ~525% cheaper at $0.08/1M; pay for Mistral Magistral Small 2509 only for provider fit.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct | Mistral Magistral Small 2509 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps, long-context analysis, and provider-routed production | provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | General |
| Context window | 10m | — |
| Cheapest output | $0.30/1M tokens | $1.50/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 12 tracked | 2 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.30/1M tokens.
- Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Use Mistral Magistral Small 2509 when your own prompt tests beat the comparison signals; the local data does not show a decisive standalone advantage yet.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct
$139
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Mistral Magistral Small 2509
$775
Cheapest tracked route/tier: AWS Bedrock
Estimated monthly gap: $636. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on AWS Bedrock and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Magistral Small 2509 is $1.20/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on AWS Bedrock and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct is $1.20/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct adds Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-04-05 | 2025-09-01 |
| Context window | 10m | — |
| Parameters | 109B (17B active) | 24B |
| Architecture | Mixture of Experts | - |
| 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 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct | Mistral Magistral Small 2509 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.08/1M tokens | $0.50/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.30/1M tokens | $1.50/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct | Mistral Magistral Small 2509 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | No |
| 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 differs most on vision: Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct, multimodal input: Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct, and structured outputs: Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E 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, Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct lists $0.08/1M input and $0.30/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Mistral Magistral Small 2509 lists $0.50/1M input and $1.50/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct lower by about $0.65 per million blended tokens. Availability is 12 providers versus 2, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct when vision-heavy evaluation, lower input-token cost, and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Magistral Small 2509 when provider fit are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship.
FAQ
Which is cheaper, Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct or Mistral Magistral Small 2509?
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct costs $0.08/1M input and $0.30/1M output tokens. Mistral Magistral Small 2509 costs $0.50/1M input and $1.50/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct or Mistral Magistral Small 2509 open source?
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct is listed under Llama 4 Community. Mistral Magistral Small 2509 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 Scout 17B-16E Instruct or Mistral Magistral Small 2509?
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E 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 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct or Mistral Magistral Small 2509?
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E 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, Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct or Mistral Magistral Small 2509?
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E 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 Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct and Mistral Magistral Small 2509?
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct is available on Cloudflare Workers AI, OpenRouter, Together AI, Fireworks AI, and DeepInfra. Mistral Magistral Small 2509 is available on AWS Bedrock and Vercel AI Gateway. 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.