Quick Verdict
| Need | Better first pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Low-cost hosted text | Mistral | Small, Devstral, and Codestral routes are far below premium GPT pricing |
| Broad proprietary ecosystem | OpenAI | Stronger product surface, tooling, and multimodal coverage |
| Coding-specific route | Mistral Codestral or Devstral | Cheaper specialist options before paying GPT-5.6 Sol rates |
| Premium reasoning | OpenAI | GPT-5.6 Sol is expensive but has the cleaner high-end path |
| EU-friendly procurement | Mistral | Often easier for teams prioritizing European vendor strategy |
Use the chart and calculator above to model your own monthly volume.
Pricing Table
| Provider | Model | Input | Cached input | Output | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mistral | Mistral Small 4 | $0.10 | n/a | $0.30 | Low-cost chat, extraction, summarization |
| Mistral | Devstral Small 2 | $0.10 | n/a | $0.30 | Cheap code-focused tasks |
| Mistral | Codestral | $0.30 | n/a | $0.90 | Code completion and developer workflows |
| Mistral | Mistral Large 3 | $0.50 | n/a | $1.50 | Stronger general Mistral route |
| Mistral | Magistral Medium | $2.00 | n/a | $5.00 | Higher-end reasoning route |
| OpenAI | GPT-5.6 Luna | $1.00 | $0.10 | $6.00 | Lower-cost current GPT-5.6 route |
| OpenAI | GPT-5.6 Sol | $5.00 | $0.50 | $30.00 | Premium OpenAI flagship route |
Mistral is the better price story when normal hosted text, code-specialist work, or open-model flexibility is the job. OpenAI remains the safer default when one provider needs to cover cheap utility calls, multimodal features, and premium agent work.
Where Mistral Wins
Mistral Small 4, Devstral Small 2, Codestral, and Mistral Large 3 give teams practical price points below OpenAI’s premium GPT tiers. They are especially worth testing for extraction, summarization, developer tooling, and workloads where EU procurement matters.
Where OpenAI Wins
OpenAI wins on ecosystem, docs, SDK familiarity, third-party integrations, and multimodal breadth. GPT-5.6 Sol is expensive, but it is still a strong escalation route for hard tasks that need the OpenAI quality ceiling.
Routing Table
| Workload | First route | Escalation route |
|---|---|---|
| Classification | Mistral Small 4 | GPT-5.6 Luna |
| Code completion | Codestral | GPT-5.6 Sol |
| Code review | Devstral Small or Medium | GPT-5.6 Sol |
| General support | Mistral Large 3 | GPT-5.6 Luna |
| Hard agent task | GPT-5.6 Luna | GPT-5.6 Sol |
FAQ
Is Mistral cheaper than OpenAI?
Often, yes, especially versus GPT-5.6 Sol. GPT-5.6 Luna narrows the gap, so compare exact model pairs rather than provider brands.
Which Mistral model should I test first?
Start with Mistral Small 4 for cheap general text, Codestral for code completion, and Mistral Large 3 when Small is not strong enough.
Does Mistral support cached input pricing?
The current tracker does not list cached-input discounts for the Mistral routes in this article. If your workload depends on prompt reuse, model those tokens at normal input rates unless your contract says otherwise.
When should I still choose OpenAI?
Choose OpenAI when multimodal features, mature tooling, broad integrations, or a premium GPT escalation route matter more than raw token price.
Bottom Line
Mistral is a strong cost-control and open-model-flexibility option. OpenAI is the broader platform. Test Mistral for cheap text and coding-specialist workloads, then keep OpenAI for tasks where ecosystem and quality ceiling justify the higher rate.