Mistral Large vs Llama 3.1 70B
Pricing, context window, and benchmark comparison · Last updated April 2026
Llama 3.1 70B is cheaper than Mistral Large at $0.35/1M/1M vs $2.00/1M/1M input tokens — a 5.7x cost difference. Mistral Large scores higher on quality benchmarks (ELO 1251). Choose Llama 3.1 70B for cost-sensitive workloads; choose Mistral Large for maximum quality.
Which is cheaper: Mistral Large or Llama 3.1 70B?
Llama 3.1 70B is the cheaper option at $0.35/1M per 1M input tokens, compared to $2.00/1M for Mistral Large. That is a 5.7x cost difference on input tokens. Output pricing follows a similar pattern: Mistral Large charges $6.00/1M/1M vs $0.40/1M/1M for Llama 3.1 70B.
Which has better quality: Mistral Large or Llama 3.1 70B?
Based on LMSYS Chatbot Arena rankings, Mistral Large achieves a higher ELO score (1251 vs 1247), suggesting stronger performance on open-ended tasks. Mistral Large excels at strong european data residency option. Llama 3.1 70B is known for excellent price-to-quality ratio.
Which should you choose: Mistral Large or Llama 3.1 70B?
- → Strong European data residency option
- → Excellent multilingual performance especially French/German
- → Good coding capabilities
- → Excellent price-to-quality ratio
- → Open source and self-hostable
- → Good at coding and instruction following
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper: Mistral Large or Llama 3.1 70B?
Llama 3.1 70B is cheaper at $0.35/1M per 1M input tokens, making it 5.7x more affordable.
Which has better quality: Mistral Large or Llama 3.1 70B?
Mistral Large scores higher on the LMSYS Chatbot Arena with an ELO of 1251, suggesting better overall quality for most tasks.
Which has a larger context window: Mistral Large or Llama 3.1 70B?
Both Mistral Large and Llama 3.1 70B have the same context window.
Should I choose Mistral Large or Llama 3.1 70B?
Choose Llama 3.1 70B if cost is the priority. Choose Mistral Large if benchmark quality is most important. Consider your specific use case: Mistral Large is best for translation and coding, while Llama 3.1 70B excels at coding and low-cost.
Is Mistral Large or Llama 3.1 70B open source?
Mistral Large is proprietary. Llama 3.1 70B is open source.