High-volume, cost-sensitive work
Choose Mistral Large 4
Mistral Large 4 costs 12% less on a typical mix of three input tokens for every output token ($0.75 against $0.85 per million tokens).
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite vs Mistral Large 4: price, context and capabilities
Choose Mistral Large 4 for high-volume, cost-sensitive work, writing and code generation, the hardest reasoning tasks, reasoning over long documents, self-hosting and data control and the latest release; on the other points the two are level or the data is missing.
In short
- Mistral Large 4 is 12% cheaper than Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite at the headline price ($0.75 / 1M tokens vs $0.85 / 1M tokens).
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite reads more per request: 1.05M tokens against 1M.
- Mistral Large 4 is the newer model (October 2026, against July 2026).
- Only Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite offers reasoning, prompt caching, batch api.
- Only Mistral Large 4 offers self-hostable.
Which should you choose?
Each answer below comes straight from the published prices, specifications and independent benchmark results.
Writing and code generation
Choose Mistral Large 4
Mistral Large 4 charges $1.50 per million output tokens, against $2.50 for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite. Output dominates the bill when answers are long.
Hardest reasoning tasks
Choose Mistral Large 4
Mistral Large 4 scores 38.4 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, against 22.2 for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite.
Reasoning over long documents
Choose Mistral Large 4
Mistral Large 4 scores 81.3% on Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR), against 76% for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite.
Self-hosting and data control
Choose Mistral Large 4
Mistral Large 4 has open weights, so you can run it on your own servers; Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is only available through its provider.
Latest release
Choose Mistral Large 4
Mistral Large 4 is the newer release (October 2026, against July 2026 for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite).
Monthly cost at three volumes
| Volume | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | Mistral Large 4 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype: 1M input, 250K output tokens | $0.93 | $0.88 | Mistral Large 4, $0.05 less |
| Production: 20M input, 5M output tokens | $18.50 | $17.50 | Mistral Large 4, $1.00 less |
| Scale: 500M input, 100M output tokens | $400.00 | $400.00 | = |
Standard rates, without caching or batch discounts. Volumes are per month.
Specifications side by side
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | Mistral Large 4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Mistral AI | |
| Category | Language models | Language models |
| Status | Generally available | Preview |
| Headline price | $0.85 / 1M tokens | $0.75 / 1M tokens |
| Input | $0.30 / 1M tokens | $0.50 / 1M tokens |
| Output | $2.50 / 1M tokens | $1.50 / 1M tokens |
| Cached input | $0.03 / 1M tokens | No data |
| Context window | 1.05M | 1M |
| Max output | 66k | No data |
| Released | July 2026 | October 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | No data | No data |
| Licence | Proprietary | Open weights |
| Capabilities | Vision, Reasoning, Tool calling, Structured output, Prompt caching, Batch API | Vision, Tool calling, Structured output, Self-hostable |
| API model id | gemini-3.5-flash-lite | mistral-large-4 |
Benchmarks side by side
Leader in bold.
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | Mistral Large 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence Index | 22.2 | 38.4 |
| SciCode | 41.3% | 54.2% |
| Humanity's Last Exam | 18.8% | 35% |
| MMMU-Pro (visual reasoning) | 79% | 76.4% |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 76% | 81.3% |
| GPQA Diamond | 83.8% | No data |
Independent evaluations by Artificial Analysis, run the same way for every model, at the reasoning setting shown. Percentages unless marked as an index.
Frequently asked questions
Should I choose Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or Mistral Large 4?
Choose Mistral Large 4 for high-volume, cost-sensitive work, writing and code generation, the hardest reasoning tasks, reasoning over long documents, self-hosting and data control and the latest release; on the other points the two are level or the data is missing.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or Mistral Large 4?
Mistral Large 4 is 12% cheaper than Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite at the headline price ($0.75 / 1M tokens vs $0.85 / 1M tokens).
Which has the larger context window, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or Mistral Large 4?
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite reads more per request: 1.05M tokens against 1M.
What is the difference between Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and Mistral Large 4?
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is made by Google and Mistral Large 4 by Mistral AI. Mistral Large 4 is 12% cheaper than Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite at the headline price ($0.75 / 1M tokens vs $0.85 / 1M tokens). Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite reads more per request: 1.05M tokens against 1M. Mistral Large 4 is the newer model (October 2026, against July 2026). Only Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite offers reasoning, prompt caching, batch api. Only Mistral Large 4 offers self-hostable.
How much do Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and Mistral Large 4 cost per month?
At 20 million input and 5 million output tokens a month, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite costs $18.50 and Mistral Large 4 costs $17.50, at standard rates.
Which is newer, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or Mistral Large 4?
Mistral Large 4 was released on October 2026 and Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite on July 2026.