Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct vs Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct
Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct (2025) and Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct (2024) are compact production models from MistralAI and Microsoft Research. Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct ships a 128K-token context window, while Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct ships a 128K-token context window. On pricing, Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct costs $0.5/1M input tokens versus $0.9/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct is ~80% cheaper at $0.5/1M; pay for Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct only for provider fit.
Specs
| Released | 2025-12-01 | 2024-08-20 |
| Context window | 128K | 128K |
| Parameters | 675B | 3.8B |
| Architecture | decoder only | decoder only |
| License | 1 | MIT |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct | Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.5/1M tokens | $0.9/1M tokens |
| Output price | $1.5/1M tokens | $0.9/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct | Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct | |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | ||
| Multimodal | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Function calling | ||
| Tool use | ||
| Structured outputs | ||
| Code execution |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark rows are currently sourced for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on structured outputs: Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct. 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, Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct lists $0.5/1M input and $1.5/1M output tokens, while Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct lists $0.9/1M input and $0.9/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct lower by about $0.1 per million blended tokens. Availability is 3 providers versus 2, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct when provider fit, lower input-token cost, and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct when provider fit 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. It also helps separate model capability from provider packaging, which can change cost and latency.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct or Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct?
Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct supports 128K tokens, while Phi 3.5 Mini 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 3 675B Instruct or Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct?
Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct costs $0.5/1M input and $1.5/1M output tokens. Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct costs $0.9/1M input and $0.9/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct or Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct open source?
Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct is listed under 1. Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct is listed under MIT. 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 structured outputs, Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct or Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct?
Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct has the clearer documented structured outputs signal in this comparison. If structured outputs is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct and Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct?
Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct is available on AWS Bedrock, NVIDIA NIM, and Mistral AI Studio. Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct is available on Fireworks AI and NVIDIA NIM. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
When should I pick Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct over Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct?
Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct is ~80% cheaper at $0.5/1M; pay for Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct only for provider fit. If your workload also depends on provider fit, start with Mistral Large 3 675B Instruct; if it depends on provider fit, run the same evaluation with Phi 3.5 Mini Instruct.
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Last reviewed: 2026-04-23. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.