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Codestral 2 vs Mistral Large 2

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 · Mistral Large 2 specs
Verdict by category
  • PriceCodestral 2

    Codestral 2 is roughly 6.7× cheaper on output tokens ($0.90 vs $6.00 per 1M).

  • Context windowCodestral 2

    Codestral 2 accepts 256K tokens vs 128K, 2.0× the room for long documents and codebases.

  • BenchmarksTie

    Across 1 shared benchmarks the two models split wins evenly. Look at task-specific scores rather than the average.

  • ModalitiesTie

    Both handle text.

  • OpennessTie

    Both ship open weights, self-host either one.

On balance Codestral 2 edges ahead, winning 2 of 5 categories against Mistral Large 2's 0. Codestral 2 is roughly 6.7× cheaper on output tokens ($0.90 vs $6.00 per 1M). Codestral 2 accepts 256K tokens vs 128K, 2.0× the room for long documents and codebases.

Across 1 shared benchmarks the two models split wins evenly. Look at task-specific scores rather than the average. 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 6 months after Mistral Large 2, 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 Mistral Large 2 sees more deployments in coding llm and multilingual. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.

Side-by-side specs

SpecCodestral 2Mistral Large 2
ProviderMistralMistral
ReleasedJan 2025Jul 2024
Modalitiestexttext
Context window256K tokens128K tokens
Max output,,
Input · 1M$0.30 / 1M tokens$2.00 / 1M tokens
Output · 1M$0.90 / 1M tokens$6.00 / 1M tokens
Knowledge cutoff,2024-04
Open weightsYes (Mistral Non-Production License)Yes (Mistral Research 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 $15.00
  • Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$22.50 vs $150
  • RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$50.40 vs $336

Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $2.25 vs $15.00 per month, model A comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $22.50 vs $150 per month, model A comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $50.40 vs $336 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
  • Mistral Large 2$0.500

Benchmarks compared

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

Codestral 2Mistral Large 2
  • MMLU,84.0
  • HumanEval92.092.0
Pick Codestral 2 if

Codestral 2 fits when…

  • Fast inline completion
  • FIM support
  • Self-hostable for IP-sensitive teams
  • Cost-sensitive workloads, 6.7× cheaper than Mistral Large 2 on output tokens.
  • Long-context tasks, handles 256K tokens vs 128K for Mistral Large 2.
Pick Mistral Large 2 if

Mistral Large 2 fits when…

  • Strong code and math
  • EU data residency
  • Multilingual
Don't want either?

Consider Mistral Medium

Mistral's mid-tier balanced model, production-ready at competitive pricing.

See Mistral Medium specsCodestral 2 vs Mistral MediumMistral Large 2 vs Mistral Medium

Frequently asked

  • Is Codestral 2 or Mistral Large 2 cheaper?
    Codestral 2 is cheaper at $0.90 / 1M tokens per million output tokens, vs $6.00 / 1M tokens for Mistral Large 2.
  • Which has the larger context window?
    Codestral 2 accepts 256K tokens vs 128K for Mistral Large 2.
  • Is Codestral 2 or Mistral Large 2 better for coding?
    Both Codestral 2 and Mistral Large 2 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; Mistral Large 2 under Mistral Research License.
  • When were Codestral 2 and Mistral Large 2 released?
    Codestral 2 was released by Mistral on 2025-01-14. Mistral Large 2 was released by Mistral on 2024-07-24.
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