LLM·Dex
Newsletter

Codestral 2 vs Jamba 1.5 Large

A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.

Updated

Codestral 2 specs · Jamba 1.5 Large specs
Verdict by category
  • PriceCodestral 2

    Codestral 2 is roughly 8.9× cheaper on output tokens ($0.90 vs $8.00 per 1M).

  • Context windowTie

    Both ship a 256K-token context window.

  • BenchmarksTie

    No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.

  • ModalitiesTie

    Both handle text.

  • OpennessTie

    Both ship open weights, self-host either one.

On balance Codestral 2 edges ahead, winning 1 of 5 categories against Jamba 1.5 Large's 0. Codestral 2 is roughly 8.9× cheaper on output tokens ($0.90 vs $8.00 per 1M). Both ship a 256K-token context window.

No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. Both target the same set of modalities (text), so the deciding factors are price, context, and raw quality. Both ship open weights, self-host either one.

Codestral 2 is the newer of the two, released 5 months after Jamba 1.5 Large, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Codestral 2 is usually picked for code completion and coding llm workloads, while Jamba 1.5 Large sees more deployments in long context and rag. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.

Side-by-side specs

SpecCodestral 2Jamba 1.5 Large
ProviderMistralAI21
ReleasedJan 2025Aug 2024
Modalitiestexttext
Context window256K tokens256K tokens
Max output,,
Input · 1M$0.30 / 1M tokens$2.00 / 1M tokens
Output · 1M$0.90 / 1M tokens$8.00 / 1M tokens
Knowledge cutoff,,
Open weightsYes (Mistral Non-Production License)Yes (Jamba Open Model License)
API availableYesYes

Pricing at scale

What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day$2.25 vs $18.00
  • Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$22.50 vs $180
  • RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$50.40 vs $348

Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $2.25 vs $18.00 per month, model A comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $22.50 vs $180 per month, model A comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $50.40 vs $348 per month, model A comes out ahead.

Price calculator

Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • Codestral 2$0.075
  • Jamba 1.5 Large$0.600

Benchmarks compared

Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.

Codestral 2Jamba 1.5 Large
  • HumanEval92.0
Pick Codestral 2 if

Codestral 2 fits when…

  • Fast inline completion
  • FIM support
  • Self-hostable for IP-sensitive teams
  • Cost-sensitive workloads, 8.9× cheaper than Jamba 1.5 Large on output tokens.
Pick Jamba 1.5 Large if

Jamba 1.5 Large fits when…

  • 256k context
  • Efficient long-context inference
  • Open weights
Don't want either?

Consider Mistral Large 2

Mistral's flagship API model, strong on code and reasoning, EU-friendly hosting.

See Mistral Large 2 specsCodestral 2 vs Mistral Large 2Jamba 1.5 Large vs Mistral Large 2

Frequently asked

  • Is Codestral 2 or Jamba 1.5 Large cheaper?
    Codestral 2 is cheaper at $0.90 / 1M tokens per million output tokens, vs $8.00 / 1M tokens for Jamba 1.5 Large.
  • Which has the larger context window?
    Both Codestral 2 and Jamba 1.5 Large ship a 256K-token context window.
  • Is Codestral 2 or Jamba 1.5 Large better for coding?
    Both Codestral 2 and Jamba 1.5 Large are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.
  • Are either of these models open source?
    Both ship with open weights. Codestral 2 is licensed under Mistral Non-Production License; Jamba 1.5 Large under Jamba Open Model License.
  • When were Codestral 2 and Jamba 1.5 Large released?
    Codestral 2 was released by Mistral on 2025-01-14. Jamba 1.5 Large was released by AI21 on 2024-08-22.
Friday digest

The week's AI launches, in your inbox.

One short email every Friday, new models, leaks, and quietly-shipped APIs you missed.