Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct (2024) and Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct (2025) are compact production models from AI at Meta and MistralAI. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct ships a 128k-token context window, while Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct ships a 128k-token context window. On pricing, Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct costs $0.50/1M input tokens versus $2.40/1M 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 Large 3 675B Instruct is ~380% cheaper at $0.50/1M; pay for Llama 3.1 405B Instruct only for provider fit.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Llama 3.1 405B Instruct | 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 | 128k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | $2.40/1M tokens | $1.50/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 11 tracked | 5 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Llama 3.1 405B Instruct has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Local decision data tags Llama 3.1 405B Instruct for RAG, Long context, and Classification.
- Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $1.50/1M tokens.
- 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 3.1 405B Instruct
$2,520
Cheapest tracked route/tier: AWS Bedrock
Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct
$775
Cheapest tracked route/tier: AWS Bedrock
Estimated monthly gap: $1,745. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on AWS Bedrock, NVIDIA NIM, and Microsoft Foundry; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct is $0.90/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct adds Vision and Multimodal in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on NVIDIA NIM, Microsoft Foundry, and AWS Bedrock; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is $0.90/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision and Multimodal before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2024-07-23 | 2025-12-01 |
| Context window | 128k | 128k |
| Parameters | 405B | 675B |
| Architecture | decoder only | decoder only |
| License | Llama 3 Community | Mistral License |
| Openness | Open weights | Open weights |
| Commercial use | Commercial use with conditions | Non-commercial only |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2023-12 | 2024-11 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama 3.1 405B Instruct | Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $2.40/1M tokens | $0.50/1M tokens |
| Output price | $2.40/1M tokens | $1.50/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama 3.1 405B Instruct | 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 3.1 405B Instruct lists $2.40/1M input and $2.40/1M 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 Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct lower by about $1.60 per million blended tokens. Availability is 11 providers versus 5, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Llama 3.1 405B Instruct when provider fit and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct when vision-heavy evaluation 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. This keeps the decision grounded in measurable tradeoffs instead of brand-level assumptions.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct or Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct?
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct supports 128k 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 3.1 405B Instruct or Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct?
Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct costs $2.40/1M input and $2.40/1M 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 3.1 405B Instruct or Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct open source?
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is listed under Llama 3 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 3.1 405B Instruct 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 3.1 405B Instruct 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 3.1 405B Instruct and Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct?
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is available on OctoAI API (Deprecated), Together AI, Fireworks AI, IBM watsonx, and Scale AI GenAI Platform. 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.
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-04. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.