Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1 vs Phi-3 Mini 4k

Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1 (2023) and Phi-3 Mini 4k (2024) are compact production models from MistralAI and Microsoft Research. Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1 ships a 33k-token context window, while Phi-3 Mini 4k ships a 4k-token context window. On pricing, Phi-3 Mini 4k costs $0.05/1M input tokens versus $0.15/1M 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.

Phi-3 Mini 4k is ~200% cheaper at $0.05/1M; pay for Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1 only for long-context analysis.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalMixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1Phi-3 Mini 4k
Best forprovider-routed productionprovider-routed production
Decision fitGeneralCoding and Classification
Context window33k4k
Cheapest output$0.45/1M tokens$0.25/1M tokens
Provider routes5 tracked4 tracked
Shared benchmarks0 shared0 shared

Decision tradeoffs

Choose Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1 when...
  • Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
  • Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
Choose Phi-3 Mini 4k when...
  • Phi-3 Mini 4k has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.25/1M tokens.
  • Local decision data tags Phi-3 Mini 4k for Coding and Classification.

Monthly cost at traffic

Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.

Lower estimate Phi-3 Mini 4k

Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1

$233

Cheapest tracked route/tier: DeepInfra

Phi-3 Mini 4k

$103

Cheapest tracked route/tier: Replicate API

Estimated monthly gap: $130. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1 -> Phi-3 Mini 4k
  • No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1 and Phi-3 Mini 4k; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
  • Phi-3 Mini 4k is $0.20/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
Phi-3 Mini 4k -> Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1
  • No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Phi-3 Mini 4k and Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
  • Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1 is $0.20/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.

Specs

Specification
Released2023-12-102024-04-23
Context window33k4k
Parameters56B3.8B
ArchitectureDecoder OnlyDecoder Only
LicenseApache 2.0OSI-approvedMITOSI-approved
OpennessOpen sourceOpen source
WeightsUnknownUnknown
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: permittedCommercial use: permitted
Knowledge cutoff2023-122023-10

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeMixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1Phi-3 Mini 4k
Input price$0.15/1M tokens$0.05/1M tokens
Output price$0.45/1M tokens$0.25/1M tokens
Providers

Capabilities

CapabilityMixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1Phi-3 Mini 4k
VisionNoNo
MultimodalNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
JSON / Tool useNoNo
Structured outputsNoNo
Code executionNoNo
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useNoNo
Parallel agentsNoNo

Benchmarks

No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.

Continue comparing

Last reviewed: 2026-09-21. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.