Llama Guard 4 12B vs Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct
Llama Guard 4 12B (2025) and Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct (2025) are compact production models from AI at Meta and MistralAI. Llama Guard 4 12B ships a 164k-token context window, while Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct ships a 128k-token context window. On pricing, Llama Guard 4 12B costs $0.18/1M 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 Guard 4 12B is ~178% cheaper at $0.18/1M; pay for Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct only for vision-heavy evaluation.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Llama Guard 4 12B | Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | provider-routed production | multimodal apps and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | RAG, Long context, and Classification | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 164k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | $0.18/1M tokens | $1.50/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 3 tracked | 5 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Llama Guard 4 12B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Llama Guard 4 12B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.18/1M tokens.
- Local decision data tags Llama Guard 4 12B for RAG, Long context, and Classification.
- Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct uniquely exposes Vision and Multimodal in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Llama Guard 4 12B
$189
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct
$775
Cheapest tracked route/tier: AWS Bedrock
Estimated monthly gap: $586. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on NVIDIA NIM; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct is $1.32/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct adds Vision and Multimodal in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on NVIDIA NIM; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama Guard 4 12B is $1.32/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision and Multimodal before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-04-05 | 2025-12-01 |
| Context window | 164k | 128k |
| Parameters | 12B | 675B |
| Architecture | decoder only | decoder only |
| License | Llama 2 Community | Mistral License |
| Openness | Open weights | Open weights |
| Commercial use | Commercial use with conditions | Non-commercial only |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-08 | 2024-11 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama Guard 4 12B | Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.18/1M tokens | $0.50/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.18/1M tokens | $1.50/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama Guard 4 12B | Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| 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 Large 3 675B Instruct and multimodal input: Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct. Both models share structured outputs, 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 4 12B lists $0.18/1M input and $0.18/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct lists $0.50/1M input and $1.50/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Llama Guard 4 12B lower by about $0.62 per million blended tokens. Availability is 3 providers versus 5, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Llama Guard 4 12B when long-context analysis, larger context windows, and lower input-token cost are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct when vision-heavy evaluation and broader provider choice 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.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Llama Guard 4 12B or Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct?
Llama Guard 4 12B supports 164k tokens, while Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct supports 128k 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 4 12B or Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct?
Llama Guard 4 12B is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Llama Guard 4 12B costs $0.18/1M input and $0.18/1M output tokens. Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct costs $0.50/1M input and $1.50/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Llama Guard 4 12B or Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct open source?
Llama Guard 4 12B is listed under Llama 2 Community. Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct is listed under Mistral License. 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 4 12B or Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct?
Mistral Large 3 675B 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 Guard 4 12B or Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct?
Mistral Large 3 675B 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.
Where can I run Llama Guard 4 12B and Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct?
Llama Guard 4 12B is available on NVIDIA NIM, Replicate API, and OpenRouter. Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct is available on AWS Bedrock, NVIDIA NIM, Mistral AI Studio, Microsoft Foundry, and Vercel AI Gateway. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-06-04. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.