Llama Guard 3 8B vs Mistral Small 4
Llama Guard 3 8B (2024) and Mistral Small 4 (2026) are compact production models from AI at Meta and MistralAI. Llama Guard 3 8B ships a 8K-token context window, while Mistral Small 4 ships a 256K-token context window. On pricing, Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15/1M input tokens versus $0.20/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Mistral Small 4 fits 32x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and Llama Guard 3 8B for tighter calls.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Llama Guard 3 8B | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | provider-routed production | multimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Classification and JSON / Tool use | RAG, Agents, and Long context |
| Context window | 8K | 256K |
| Cheapest output | $0.20/1M tokens | $0.60/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 4 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Llama Guard 3 8B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.20/1M tokens.
- Llama Guard 3 8B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Llama Guard 3 8B uniquely exposes Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Llama Guard 3 8B for Classification and JSON / Tool use.
- Mistral Small 4 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Mistral Small 4 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Function calling 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 8B
$210
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Fireworks AI
Mistral Small 4
$270
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $60.00. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Small 4 is $0.40/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- Mistral Small 4 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Function calling in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama Guard 3 8B is $0.40/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Function calling before moving production traffic.
- Llama Guard 3 8B adds Structured outputs in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2024-07-23 | 2026-03-16 |
| Context window | 8K | 256K |
| Parameters | 8B | 119B (6.5B active) |
| Architecture | decoder only | moe |
| License | Open Source | Apache 2.0 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2023-12 | 2025-06 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama Guard 3 8B | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.20/1M tokens | $0.15/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.20/1M tokens | $0.60/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama Guard 3 8B | 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 |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | 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 Guard 3 8B. 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 Guard 3 8B lists $0.20/1M input and $0.20/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Mistral Small 4 lists $0.15/1M input and $0.60/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Llama Guard 3 8B lower by about $0.08 per million blended tokens. Availability is 4 providers versus 3, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Llama Guard 3 8B when provider fit and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Small 4 when long-context analysis, larger context windows, 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.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Llama Guard 3 8B or Mistral Small 4?
Mistral Small 4 supports 256K 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 Small 4?
Mistral Small 4 is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Llama Guard 3 8B costs $0.20/1M input and $0.20/1M output tokens. Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15/1M input and $0.60/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Llama Guard 3 8B or Mistral Small 4 open source?
Llama Guard 3 8B 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 Guard 3 8B 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 Guard 3 8B 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 Guard 3 8B and Mistral Small 4?
Llama Guard 3 8B is available on Microsoft Foundry, OpenRouter, Fireworks AI, and Replicate API. Mistral Small 4 is available on OpenRouter, NVIDIA NIM, and Mistral AI Studio. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-05-16. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.