The most capable budget model Mistral has shipped — a smart default for high-volume teams that need real performance without flagship pricing.
78
Coding
72
Writing
70
Research
0
Images
88
Value
74
Long Context
Use this when
Cost-conscious teams running high-volume coding, summarization, or multilingual tasks at enterprise scale.
Skip this if
You need multimodal inputs, cutting-edge reasoning for complex agentic tasks, or the absolute best instruction-following quality available.
Pricing
$0.40/1M in
$2.00/1M out
↓73%since May 2026
Context
131k tokens
Speed
Fast
Priced at $0.40 input / $2.00 output per 1M tokens. Officially supersedes Mistral Large 2, making it an easy drop-in upgrade for existing Mistral users. Available via Mistral's API and La Plateforme.
Exceptional price-to-performance ratio — outperforms Mistral Large 2 at roughly 80% less cost
Strong multilingual support, particularly for European languages like French, Spanish, German, and Italian
Solid coding assistance for Python, JavaScript, and SQL at a budget-friendly price point
128K context window handles most real-world document and codebase tasks without chunking
Weaknesses
Falls short of GPT-4.1 and Claude Sonnet 4 on complex multi-step reasoning and instruction following
No native image or multimodal input support, limiting use in vision-heavy workflows
Less consistent than top-tier models on nuanced long-form writing or high-stakes research synthesis
Real-world use cases
What people actually use Mistral Medium 3 for.
Generating and reviewing Python or SQL code in a CI/CD pipeline at scale
Summarizing long legal or financial documents within a 128K context window
Building multilingual customer support automation for European markets
How Mistral Medium 3 compares
The nearest models people weigh against it, and what actually separates them.
vs Mistral Large 3 2512 — Against Mistral Large 3 2512 (Mistral), Mistral Medium 3 costs about 17% more per token, gives up 2x on context and answers faster. Mistral Large 3 2512 is the one to check first if the price difference matters more than the ceiling.
vs Mistral Medium 3.1 — Against Mistral Medium 3.1 (Mistral), Mistral Medium 3 lands within a few percent on price. Which one wins depends on whether context depth or latency is your constraint.
vs Mistral Small 4 — Against Mistral Small 4 (Mistral), Mistral Medium 3 costs about 69% more per token and gives up 2x on context. Mistral Small 4 is the one to check first if the price difference matters more than the ceiling.
Price History
Mistral Medium 3 pricing over time
↓73% since May 30
90 data points · tracked daily since May 30, 2026
Ready to try it?
Start using Mistral Medium 3
Cost-conscious teams running high-volume coding, summarization, or multilingual tasks at enterprise scale.. Start free — no card required.
Mistral Large 3 2512 is Mistral's flagship dense model updated in December 2025, offering strong multilingual reasoning and coding capabilities at a significantly reduced price point compared to its predecessor. It targets enterprise workloads that need high-quality outputs without paying top-tier frontier model prices.
Verdict
The best price-per-quality ratio in the non-mini flagship tier, especially for multilingual and long-context enterprise tasks.
Quality score
69%
Pricing
$0.50/1M in
$1.50/1M out
Speed
Balanced
3/5 speed
Context
262k tokens
Pricing of $0.50 input / $1.50 output per 1M tokens places it firmly in the budget-flagship category. Available via Mistral API (La Plateforme) and major cloud providers. December 2025 update ('2512') improves instruction following over the earlier 2407 release.
Multilingual enterprise tasks, code generation, and long-document analysis where cost efficiency matters more than absolute state-of-the-art performance.
Mistral Medium 3.1 is a multimodal mid-tier model from Mistral that supersedes Mistral Large 2, offering vision capabilities alongside strong text performance at a significantly reduced price point. It targets the sweet spot between budget models and expensive flagships, with a 128K context window and competitive multilingual support.
Verdict
The best Mistral model for budget-conscious builders who still need multimodal capability and solid multilingual output.
Quality score
70%
Pricing
$0.40/1M in
$2.00/1M out
Speed
Fast
4/5 speed
Context
131k tokens
Officially supersedes Mistral Large 2, representing a generational shift in Mistral's lineup toward multimodal capability at lower cost tiers. Available via Mistral API and select cloud providers. No function calling limitations noted at this tier.
BudgetMultimodalMultilingualMid-tierVision
Best for
Cost-sensitive teams needing solid coding, instruction-following, and basic vision tasks without paying flagship prices.
Mistral Small 4 is a compact, cost-efficient language model from Mistral AI that punches well above its price class, succeeding Mistral Large 2 in capability while costing a fraction of the price. It features a 256K context window and is optimized for high-throughput, latency-sensitive applications.
Verdict
The best bang-for-buck text model in its class — Mistral Large 2 quality at a fraction of the cost.
Quality score
68%
Pricing
$0.15/1M in
$0.60/1M out
Speed
Fast
4/5 speed
Context
262k tokens
Pricing at $0.15/$0.60 per million tokens makes this one of the most affordable capable models on the market. Available via Mistral's La Plateforme API and compatible with OpenAI-style endpoints. No image input support confirmed at launch.
BudgetFastLong ContextMultilingualCoding
Best for
Teams needing reliable, fast text generation and coding assistance at near-commodity pricing without sacrificing too much quality.
Pricing moves, ranking shifts, and capability updates.
New ModelMar 27, 2026
Mistral: Mistral Medium 3 — added to UseRightAI
Mistral: Mistral Medium 3 (Mistral) is now indexed. It supersedes Mistral Large 2. The most capable budget model Mistral has shipped — a smart default for high-volume teams that need real performance without flagship pricing.
Mistral Medium 3 costs $0.39999999999999997 per million input tokens and $2 per million output tokens on the API. A month of 10M input and 2M output tokens runs about $8.00 at list price, before any batch or caching discounts.
What is Mistral Medium 3 best for?
Mistral Medium 3 is best for cost-conscious teams running high-volume coding, summarization, or multilingual tasks at enterprise scale.. It is a strong fit when that workflow matters more than the tradeoffs around budget pricing and fast speed.
When should I avoid Mistral Medium 3?
You need multimodal inputs, cutting-edge reasoning for complex agentic tasks, or the absolute best instruction-following quality available.
What is a cheaper alternative to Mistral Medium 3?
Mistral Small 4 (Mistral) at $0.15/1M/1M input against Mistral Medium 3's $0.40/1M/1M — roughly 69% less per token all in. The best bang-for-buck text model in its class — Mistral Large 2 quality at a fraction of the cost. Compare it first if Mistral Medium 3's pricing is the thing stopping you.
What is a faster alternative to Mistral Medium 3?
Mistral Large 3 2512 — balanced against Mistral Medium 3's fast, with 262k tokens of context. Worth the swap when response time is what your users notice rather than the last few points of reasoning depth.
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