Llama Guard 3 1B vs Mistral Small 4
Llama Guard 3 1B (2024) and Mistral Small 4 (2026) are compact production models from AI at Meta and MistralAI. Llama Guard 3 1B ships a 128k-token context window, while Mistral Small 4 ships a 256k-token context window. On pricing, both list $0.10/1M input tokens on the cheapest tracked route. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Mistral Small 4 is safer overall; choose Llama Guard 3 1B when provider fit matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Llama Guard 3 1B | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | general production evaluation | multimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Long context and Classification | RAG, Agents, and Long context |
| Context window | 128k | 256k |
| Cheapest output | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.30/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 1 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Llama Guard 3 1B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.10/1M tokens.
- Local decision data tags Llama Guard 3 1B for Long context and Classification.
- Mistral Small 4 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Mistral Small 4 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Mistral Small 4 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Small 4 for RAG, Agents, and Long context.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Llama Guard 3 1B
$105
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Fireworks AI
Mistral Small 4
$155
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Mistral AI Studio
Estimated monthly gap: $50.00. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Llama Guard 3 1B and Mistral Small 4; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Mistral Small 4 is $0.20/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Mistral Small 4 adds Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local capability data.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Mistral Small 4 and Llama Guard 3 1B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Llama Guard 3 1B is $0.20/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2024-09-25 | 2026-03-16 |
| Context window | 128k | 256k |
| Parameters | 1B | 119B (6.5B active) |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Mixture of Experts |
| License | Llama 2 Community | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open weights | Open source |
| Weights | Unknown | Available |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2023-12 | 2025-06 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama Guard 3 1B | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.30/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama Guard 3 1B | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | No | Yes |
| Structured outputs | No | 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.
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-09. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.