Mistral Large 2 vs Mistral Medium 3 Instruct
Mistral Large 2 (2025) and Mistral Medium 3 Instruct (2025) are compact production models from MistralAI. Mistral Large 2 ships a 128k-token context window, while Mistral Medium 3 Instruct ships a 128k-token context window. On pricing, Mistral Medium 3 Instruct costs $0.40/1M input tokens versus $0.48/1M 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 2 is safer overall; choose Mistral Medium 3 Instruct when vision-heavy evaluation matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Mistral Large 2 | Mistral Medium 3 Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production | multimodal apps and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Long context and Vision |
| Context window | 128k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | $2.40/1M tokens | $2/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 4 tracked | 2 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Mistral Large 2 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Mistral Large 2 uniquely exposes Function calling, Tool use, and Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Large 2 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Mistral Medium 3 Instruct has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $2/1M tokens.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Medium 3 Instruct for Long context and Vision.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Mistral Large 2
$984
Cheapest tracked route/tier: AWS Bedrock
Mistral Medium 3 Instruct
$820
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Mistral AI Studio
Estimated monthly gap: $164. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on Mistral AI Studio; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Medium 3 Instruct is $0.40/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Function calling, Tool use, and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on Mistral AI Studio; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Large 2 is $0.40/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Mistral Large 2 adds Function calling, Tool use, and Structured outputs in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-11-25 | 2025-10-01 |
| Context window | 128k | 128k |
| Parameters | 123B | — |
| Architecture | decoder only | decoder only |
| License | Mistral License | Proprietary |
| Openness | Open weights | Proprietary |
| Commercial use | Non-commercial only | Commercial use with conditions |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-07 | 2025-03 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Mistral Large 2 | Mistral Medium 3 Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.48/1M tokens | $0.40/1M tokens |
| Output price | $2.40/1M tokens | $2/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Mistral Large 2 | Mistral Medium 3 Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | Yes | No |
| Tool use | Yes | No |
| 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 function calling: Mistral Large 2, tool use: Mistral Large 2, and structured outputs: Mistral Large 2. Both models share vision and multimodal input, 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, Mistral Large 2 lists $0.48/1M input and $2.40/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Mistral Medium 3 Instruct lists $0.40/1M input and $2/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Mistral Medium 3 Instruct lower by about $0.18 per million blended tokens. Availability is 4 providers versus 2, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Mistral Large 2 when vision-heavy evaluation and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Medium 3 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, Mistral Large 2 or Mistral Medium 3 Instruct?
Mistral Large 2 supports 128k tokens, while Mistral Medium 3 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, Mistral Large 2 or Mistral Medium 3 Instruct?
Mistral Medium 3 Instruct is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Mistral Large 2 costs $0.48/1M input and $2.40/1M output tokens. Mistral Medium 3 Instruct costs $0.40/1M input and $2/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Mistral Large 2 or Mistral Medium 3 Instruct open source?
Mistral Large 2 is listed under Mistral License. Mistral Medium 3 Instruct is listed under Proprietary. 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, Mistral Large 2 or Mistral Medium 3 Instruct?
Both Mistral Large 2 and Mistral Medium 3 Instruct expose vision. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Which is better for multimodal input, Mistral Large 2 or Mistral Medium 3 Instruct?
Both Mistral Large 2 and Mistral Medium 3 Instruct expose multimodal input. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Where can I run Mistral Large 2 and Mistral Medium 3 Instruct?
Mistral Large 2 is available on OpenRouter, IBM watsonx, AWS Bedrock, and Mistral AI Studio. Mistral Medium 3 Instruct is available on NVIDIA NIM and Mistral AI Studio. 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.