Llama Guard 4 12B vs Mistral Small 4
Llama Guard 4 12B (2025) and Mistral Small 4 (2026) are general-purpose language models from AI at Meta and MistralAI. Llama Guard 4 12B ships a 164k-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 $0.18/1M 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.
Mistral Small 4 is safer overall; choose Llama Guard 4 12B when provider fit matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Llama Guard 4 12B | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | provider-routed production | multimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | RAG, Long context, and Classification | RAG, Agents, and Long context |
| Context window | 164k | 256k |
| Cheapest output | $0.18/1M tokens | $0.60/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 3 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Llama Guard 4 12B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.18/1M tokens.
- Llama Guard 4 12B uniquely exposes Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Llama Guard 4 12B for RAG, Long context, and Classification.
- 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 4 12B
$189
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Mistral Small 4
$270
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $81.00. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and NVIDIA NIM; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Small 4 is $0.42/1M 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 NVIDIA NIM and OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama Guard 4 12B is $0.42/1M 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 4 12B adds Structured outputs in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-04-05 | 2026-03-16 |
| Context window | 164k | 256k |
| Parameters | 12B | 119B (6.5B active) |
| Architecture | decoder only | moe |
| License | Llama 2 Community | Apache 2.0(OSI) |
| Openness | Open weights | Open source |
| Commercial use | Commercial use with conditions | Commercial use allowed |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-08 | 2025-06 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama Guard 4 12B | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.18/1M tokens | $0.15/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.18/1M tokens | $0.60/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama Guard 4 12B | 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 4 12B. 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 4 12B lists $0.18/1M input and $0.18/1M 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 4 12B lower by about $0.10 per million blended tokens. Availability is 3 providers versus 3, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Llama Guard 4 12B when provider fit 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 4 12B or Mistral Small 4?
Mistral Small 4 supports 256k tokens, while Llama Guard 4 12B supports 164k 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 Small 4?
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 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 4 12B or Mistral Small 4 open source?
Llama Guard 4 12B is listed under Llama 2 Community. 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 4 12B 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 4 12B 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 4 12B and Mistral Small 4?
Llama Guard 4 12B is available on NVIDIA NIM, Replicate API, and OpenRouter. 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: 2026-05-22. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.