Llama 3.1 70B Turbo vs Mistral Small 3.1

Compare Llama 3.1 70B Turbo and Mistral Small 3.1: 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 Mistral Small 3.1
CategoryOpen SourceCompact
Parameters70B24B
Context Window128K128K
Input Price$0.04/1M tokens$0.02/1M tokens
Output Price$0.06/1M tokens$0.04/1M tokens
Latency~250ms~120ms

Choose Llama 3.1 70B Turbo when:

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

Fast inference, Good quality, Well-tested

Choose Mistral Small 3.1 when:

  • ✓ Lightweight tasks
  • ✓ Classification
  • ✓ Simple generation
Key Strengths:

128K context, Low cost, Fast

Verdict: Llama 3.1 70B Turbo vs Mistral Small 3.1

For cost efficiency, Mistral Small 3.1 wins at $0.02/1M input tokens. For speed, Mistral Small 3.1 is faster at ~120ms. Llama 3.1 70B Turbo excels at Production APIs while Mistral Small 3.1 is better for Lightweight tasks. 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. Mistral Small 3.1 costs $0.02 input and $0.04 output. Mistral Small 3.1 is 2.0x 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. Mistral Small 3.1 offers 128K context at ~120ms. Both have identical context windows.

Best For

Llama 3.1 70B Turbo (Open Source) is optimized for: Production APIs, Fast generation, General purpose. Mistral Small 3.1 (Compact) works best for: Lightweight tasks, Classification, Simple generation.

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 Mistral Small 3.1
response_b = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="mistral-small-3-1",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

Start Building with XALEN

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Get API Key Try in Playground

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Llama 3.1 70B Turbo or Mistral Small 3.1?

Llama 3.1 70B Turbo (Open Source, 70B) offers Fast inference. Mistral Small 3.1 (Compact, 24B) offers 128K context. Choose Llama 3.1 70B Turbo for Production APIs or Mistral Small 3.1 for Lightweight tasks.

How much does Llama 3.1 70B Turbo cost vs Mistral Small 3.1?

Llama 3.1 70B Turbo: $0.04/1M input, $0.06/1M output. Mistral Small 3.1: $0.02/1M input, $0.04/1M 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 Mistral Small 3.1 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.