Mixtral 8x7B vs Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct
Mixtral 8x7B (2023) and Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct (2024) are compact production models from MistralAI and Alibaba. Mixtral 8x7B ships a 32K-token context window, while Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct ships a 33K-token context window. On pricing, Mixtral 8x7B costs $0.15/1M input tokens versus $0.7/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
Mixtral 8x7B is ~367% cheaper at $0.15/1M; pay for Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct only for long-context analysis.
Specs
| Released | 2023-12-11 | 2024-06-07 |
| Context window | 32K | 33K |
| Parameters | 8x7B | 72B |
| Architecture | mixture of experts | decoder only |
| License | Apache 2.0 | Open Source |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2023-12 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Mixtral 8x7B | Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.15/1M tokens | $0.7/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.45/1M tokens | $0.7/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Mixtral 8x7B | Together AI Qwen2-72B-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: Together AI Qwen2-72B-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, Mixtral 8x7B lists $0.15/1M input and $0.45/1M output tokens, while Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct lists $0.7/1M input and $0.7/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Mixtral 8x7B lower by about $0.46 per million blended tokens. Availability is 18 providers versus 1, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Mixtral 8x7B when provider fit, lower input-token cost, and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct when long-context analysis and larger context windows 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, Mixtral 8x7B or Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct?
Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct supports 33K tokens, while Mixtral 8x7B supports 32K tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Mixtral 8x7B or Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct?
Mixtral 8x7B is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Mixtral 8x7B costs $0.15/1M input and $0.45/1M output tokens. Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct costs $0.7/1M input and $0.7/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Mixtral 8x7B or Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct open source?
Mixtral 8x7B is listed under Apache 2.0. Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct is listed under Open Source. 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, Mixtral 8x7B or Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct?
Together AI Qwen2-72B-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 Mixtral 8x7B and Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct?
Mixtral 8x7B is available on Databricks Foundation Model Serving, NVIDIA NIM, GCP Vertex AI, AWS Bedrock, and OctoAI API. Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct is available on Together AI. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
When should I pick Mixtral 8x7B over Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct?
Mixtral 8x7B is ~367% cheaper at $0.15/1M; pay for Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct only for long-context analysis. If your workload also depends on provider fit, start with Mixtral 8x7B; if it depends on long-context analysis, run the same evaluation with Together AI Qwen2-72B-Instruct.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-04-24. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.