Llama Guard 3 8B vs Mistral Medium
Llama Guard 3 8B (2024) and Mistral Medium (2023) are compact production models from AI at Meta and MistralAI. Llama Guard 3 8B ships a 8K-token context window, while Mistral Medium ships a 32K-token context window. On pricing, Llama Guard 3 8B costs $0.2/1M input tokens versus $0.4/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Llama Guard 3 8B is ~100% cheaper at $0.2/1M; pay for Mistral Medium only for long-context analysis.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2024-07-23 | 2023-12-11 |
| Context window | 8K | 32K |
| Parameters | 8B | — |
| Architecture | decoder only | decoder only |
| License | Open Source | Apache 2.0 |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama Guard 3 8B | Mistral Medium |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.2/1M tokens | $0.4/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.2/1M tokens | $2/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama Guard 3 8B | Mistral Medium |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark rows are currently sourced for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint is close: both models cover 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 Guard 3 8B lists $0.2/1M input and $0.2/1M output tokens, while Mistral Medium lists $0.4/1M input and $2/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Llama Guard 3 8B lower by about $0.68 per million blended tokens. Availability is 4 providers versus 2, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Llama Guard 3 8B when provider fit, lower input-token cost, and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Medium when long-context analysis and larger context windows 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 Guard 3 8B or Mistral Medium?
Mistral Medium supports 32K tokens, while Llama Guard 3 8B supports 8K 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 Guard 3 8B or Mistral Medium?
Llama Guard 3 8B is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Llama Guard 3 8B costs $0.2/1M input and $0.2/1M output tokens. Mistral Medium costs $0.4/1M input and $2/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Llama Guard 3 8B or Mistral Medium open source?
Llama Guard 3 8B is listed under Open Source. Mistral Medium 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 structured outputs, Llama Guard 3 8B or Mistral Medium?
Both Llama Guard 3 8B and Mistral Medium expose structured outputs. 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 Guard 3 8B and Mistral Medium?
Llama Guard 3 8B is available on Microsoft Foundry, OpenRouter, Fireworks AI, and Replicate API. Mistral Medium is available on Mistral AI Studio and OpenRouter. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
When should I pick Llama Guard 3 8B over Mistral Medium?
Llama Guard 3 8B is ~100% cheaper at $0.2/1M; pay for Mistral Medium only for long-context analysis. If your workload also depends on provider fit, start with Llama Guard 3 8B; if it depends on long-context analysis, run the same evaluation with Mistral Medium.
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Last reviewed: 2026-05-11. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.