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Head-to-head comparison

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Mixtral 8x22B Instruct

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (Meta) and Mixtral 8x22B Instruct (Mistral AI) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 3 September 2026

As of 3 September 2026, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#205 vs #207); Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 75× cheaper per output token ($0.08/1M vs $6.00/1M); Llama 3.1 8B Instruct offers the longer context window (131K vs 66K tokens); and Mixtral 8x22B Instruct ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct if…

  • API cost matters — $0.08/1M output tokens against $6.00/1M, about 75× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.05/1M against $2.00/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 131K tokens against 66K.
  • you want provider choice — 5 listed API providers against 1.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Llama 3.1 8B Instruct was listed 23 July 2024, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct 17 April 2024.

Choose Mixtral 8x22B Instruct if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #205 against #207 (4.8 vs 3.1 points).
  • you want to self-host: Mixtral 8x22B Instruct ships open weights while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is gated access.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1277 against 1260.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Mixtral 8x22B Instruct: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Mixtral 8x22B Instruct
FieldLlama 3.1 8B InstructMetaMixtral 8x22B InstructMistral AI
ModelCap Index position#207#205
Index score3.14.8
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.05$2.00
Output price / 1M tokens$0.08$6.00
Context window131K tokens66K tokens
Max output tokens118K52K
API providers listed51
Weight accessGated accessOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText, File
First listed23 July 202417 April 2024
PublisherMetaMistral AI

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Mixtral 8x22B Instruct

Public benchmark boards where Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Mixtral 8x22B Instruct has a published result
BoardLlama 3.1 8B InstructMixtral 8x22B InstructLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)12601252–126712771269–1286Mixtral 8x22B Instruct
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)25.8Prompt—Only one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Mixtral 8x22B Instruct: common questions

Is Llama 3.1 8B Instruct better than Mixtral 8x22B Instruct?

Mixtral 8x22B Instruct ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 3 September 2026: #205 against #207. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is Llama 3.1 8B Instruct cheaper than Mixtral 8x22B Instruct?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is cheaper on output tokens: $0.08/1M against $6.00/1M. Input tokens are $0.05/1M for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and $2.00/1M for Mixtral 8x22B Instruct. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Mixtral 8x22B Instruct?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has the larger context window: 131K tokens against 66K.

Which is better for coding, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Mixtral 8x22B Instruct?

Arena coding: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct 1260, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct 1277 — Mixtral 8x22B Instruct leads.

Are Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Mixtral 8x22B Instruct open-weight models?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct: Gated access. Mixtral 8x22B Instruct: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Mixtral 8x22B Instruct?

ModelCap currently lists 5 API providers for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and 1 for Mixtral 8x22B Instruct, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Mixtral 8x22B Instruct comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 3 September 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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