Pixtral 12B vs StarCoder2 15B

Compare Pixtral 12B and StarCoder2 15B: 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 Pixtral 12B StarCoder2 15B
CategoryVisionCode
Parameters12B15B
Context Window128K16K
Input Price$0.02/1M tokens$0.02/1M tokens
Output Price$0.04/1M tokens$0.03/1M tokens
Latency~200ms~150ms

Choose Pixtral 12B when:

  • ✓ Simple image tasks
  • ✓ Classification
  • ✓ OCR
Key Strengths:

Low cost vision, Fast, Compact

Choose StarCoder2 15B when:

  • ✓ Code completion
  • ✓ Code generation
  • ✓ Bug fixing
Key Strengths:

Strong coding, 600+ languages, Open weights

Verdict: Pixtral 12B vs StarCoder2 15B

For cost efficiency, StarCoder2 15B wins at $0.02/1M input tokens. For speed, StarCoder2 15B is faster at ~150ms. Pixtral 12B excels at Simple image tasks while StarCoder2 15B is better for Code completion. Both are available on XALEN through a single API — try them in the Playground to see which fits your workload.

Detailed Analysis

Pricing Comparison

Pixtral 12B costs $0.02/1M input tokens and $0.04/1M output tokens. StarCoder2 15B costs $0.02 input and $0.03 output. Both models are similarly priced. XALEN offers batch processing at 50% discount on both models.

Performance & Context

Pixtral 12B has a 128K context window with ~200ms latency. StarCoder2 15B offers 16K context at ~150ms. Pixtral 12B has the larger context window.

Best For

Pixtral 12B (Vision) is optimized for: Simple image tasks, Classification, OCR. StarCoder2 15B (Code) works best for: Code completion, Code generation, Bug fixing.

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 Pixtral 12B
response_a = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="pixtral-12b",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

# Use StarCoder2 15B
response_b = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="starcoder2-15b",
    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, Pixtral 12B or StarCoder2 15B?

Pixtral 12B (Vision, 12B) offers Low cost vision. StarCoder2 15B (Code, 15B) offers Strong coding. Choose Pixtral 12B for Simple image tasks or StarCoder2 15B for Code completion.

How much does Pixtral 12B cost vs StarCoder2 15B?

Pixtral 12B: $0.02/1M input, $0.04/1M output. StarCoder2 15B: $0.02/1M input, $0.03/1M 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 Pixtral 12B and StarCoder2 15B 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.