Llama 3.2 1B vs Mistral Medium 3

Compare Llama 3.2 1B and Mistral Medium 3: 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 3.2 1B Mistral Medium 3
CategoryCompactOpen Source
Parameters1B70B
Context Window128K128K
Input Price$0.004/1M tokens$0.04/1M tokens
Output Price$0.008/1M tokens$0.08/1M tokens
Latency~25ms~300ms

Choose Llama 3.2 1B when:

  • ✓ Intent detection
  • ✓ Routing
  • ✓ Edge classification
Key Strengths:

Smallest footprint, Fastest inference, Classification

Choose Mistral Medium 3 when:

  • ✓ Production APIs
  • ✓ Template filling
  • ✓ General purpose
Key Strengths:

Good balance, Strong function calling, Reliable

Verdict: Llama 3.2 1B vs Mistral Medium 3

For cost efficiency, Llama 3.2 1B wins at $0.004/1M input tokens. For speed, Llama 3.2 1B is faster at ~25ms. Llama 3.2 1B excels at Intent detection while Mistral Medium 3 is better for Production APIs. 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 3.2 1B costs $0.004/1M input tokens and $0.008/1M output tokens. Mistral Medium 3 costs $0.04 input and $0.08 output. Llama 3.2 1B is 10.0x cheaper on input tokens. XALEN offers batch processing at 50% discount on both models.

Performance & Context

Llama 3.2 1B has a 128K context window with ~25ms latency. Mistral Medium 3 offers 128K context at ~300ms. Both have identical context windows.

Best For

Llama 3.2 1B (Compact) is optimized for: Intent detection, Routing, Edge classification. Mistral Medium 3 (Open Source) works best for: Production APIs, Template filling, General purpose.

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 3.2 1B
response_a = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="llama-3-2-1b",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

# Use Mistral Medium 3
response_b = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="mistral-medium-3",
    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 3.2 1B or Mistral Medium 3?

Llama 3.2 1B (Compact, 1B) offers Smallest footprint. Mistral Medium 3 (Open Source, 70B) offers Good balance. Choose Llama 3.2 1B for Intent detection or Mistral Medium 3 for Production APIs.

How much does Llama 3.2 1B cost vs Mistral Medium 3?

Llama 3.2 1B: $0.004/1M input, $0.008/1M output. Mistral Medium 3: $0.04/1M input, $0.08/1M 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 3.2 1B and Mistral Medium 3 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.