Llama 3.1 70B Turbo vs Codestral

Compare Llama 3.1 70B Turbo and Codestral: pricing, performance, context window, latency, and best use cases. Side-by-side comparison on XALEN.

Updated 2026-05-21 · By Abhishek Raj · Our methodology

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Feature Llama 3.1 70B Turbo Codestral
CategoryOpen SourceCode
Parameters70B22B
Context Window128K256K
Input Price$0.04/1M tokens$0.03/1M tokens
Output Price$0.06/1M tokens$0.05/1M tokens
Latency~250ms~200ms

Choose Llama 3.1 70B Turbo when:

  • ✓ Production APIs
  • ✓ Fast generation
  • ✓ General purpose
Key Strengths:

Fast inference, Good quality, Well-tested

Choose Codestral when:

  • ✓ API integration code
  • ✓ SDK generation
  • ✓ Code review
Key Strengths:

256K context for code, Strong code generation, Good APIs

Verdict: Llama 3.1 70B Turbo vs Codestral

For cost efficiency, Codestral wins at $0.03/1M input tokens. For speed, Codestral is faster at ~200ms. Llama 3.1 70B Turbo excels at Production APIs while Codestral is better for API integration code. Both are available on XALEN through a single API — try them in the Playground to see which fits your workload.

Detailed Analysis

Pricing Comparison

Llama 3.1 70B Turbo costs $0.04/1M input tokens and $0.06/1M output tokens. Codestral costs $0.03 input and $0.05 output. Codestral is 1.3x cheaper on input tokens. XALEN offers batch processing at 50% discount on both models.

Performance & Context

Llama 3.1 70B Turbo has a 128K context window with ~250ms latency. Codestral offers 256K context at ~200ms. Codestral has the larger context window.

Best For

Llama 3.1 70B Turbo (Open Source) is optimized for: Production APIs, Fast generation, General purpose. Codestral (Code) works best for: API integration code, SDK generation, Code review.

Try Both on XALEN

Both models are available through XALEN's OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between them by changing the model parameter:

from xalen import XALEN

client = XALEN(api_key="xln_test_YOUR_KEY")

# Use Llama 3.1 70B Turbo
response_a = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="llama-3-1-70b-turbo",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

# Use Codestral
response_b = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="codestral",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

Start Building with XALEN

200+ AI models. One API. Pay-as-you-go.

Get API Key Try in Playground

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Llama 3.1 70B Turbo or Codestral?

Llama 3.1 70B Turbo (Open Source, 70B) offers Fast inference. Codestral (Code, 22B) offers 256K context for code. Choose Llama 3.1 70B Turbo for Production APIs or Codestral for API integration code.

How much does Llama 3.1 70B Turbo cost vs Codestral?

Llama 3.1 70B Turbo: $0.04/1M input, $0.06/1M output. Codestral: $0.03/1M input, $0.05/1M output. Both available on XALEN with batch processing at 50% discount.

Can I use both models on XALEN?

Yes. XALEN provides 200+ models through a single OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between Llama 3.1 70B Turbo and Codestral by changing the model parameter. No code changes needed.

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Last updated: 2026-05-21. Pricing and specifications may change. Check pricing page for latest rates.