Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct vs Mistral Small 4
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct (2025) and Mistral Small 4 (2026) are general-purpose language models from AI at Meta and MistralAI. Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct ships a 328K-token context window, while Mistral Small 4 ships a 256k-token context window. On pricing, Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct costs $0.08/1M input tokens versus $0.15/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct is ~87% cheaper at $0.08/1M; pay for Mistral Small 4 only for vision-heavy evaluation.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-04-05 | 2026-03-16 |
| Context window | 328K | 256k |
| Parameters | 17B | 119B (6.5B active) |
| Architecture | mixture of experts | moe |
| License | Open Source | Apache 2.0 |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.08/1M tokens | $0.15/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.3/1M tokens | $0.6/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | Yes |
| Tool use | No | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | No |
| 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 4, multimodal input: Mistral Small 4, function calling: Mistral Small 4, tool use: Mistral Small 4, 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 $0.3/1M output tokens, while Mistral Small 4 lists $0.15/1M input and $0.6/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct lower by about $0.14 per million blended tokens. Availability is 8 providers versus 2, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct when long-context analysis, larger context windows, and lower input-token cost are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Small 4 when vision-heavy evaluation 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, Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct or Mistral Small 4?
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct supports 328K tokens, while Mistral Small 4 supports 256k 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 Scout 17B-16E Instruct or Mistral Small 4?
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct costs $0.08/1M input and $0.3/1M output tokens. Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15/1M input and $0.6/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct or Mistral Small 4 open source?
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct is listed under Open Source. Mistral Small 4 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 Small 4?
Mistral Small 4 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 Small 4?
Mistral Small 4 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 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct and Mistral Small 4?
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct is available on OpenRouter, Together AI, Fireworks AI, DeepInfra, and GCP Vertex AI. Mistral Small 4 is available on OpenRouter and NVIDIA NIM. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-05-11. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.