Comparison · Mistral and Qwen
Mistral Large 4 vs Qwen3.8 27B
Listed API prices of Mistral Large 4 and Qwen3.8 27B turned into the cost of the same three standard tasks, with speed from our own test requests in the United States and what each provider’s API documentation says about features that break on a switch. Output quality and answer length are not compared.
Calculated impact cost per task and per month
For an L2 task (deep analysis over a 50,000-token document, 3 steps), Mistral Large 4 costs $0.118 and Qwen3.8 27B $0.139 at the prices listed in the United States on , so Mistral Large 4 is 15.5 % less than Qwen3.8 27B, counting visible output only, without cache discounts or hidden reasoning.
| Task | Mistral Large 4, per task | Qwen3.8 27B, per task | Mistral Large 4, per month | Qwen3.8 27B, per month | Mistral Large 4 vs Qwen3.8 27B, per task |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1Micro-task (classification or strict JSON extraction) | $0.0015per L1 task | $0.0020per L1 task | $21.46per month | $29.20per month | −26.5 % |
| L2Deep analysis over a 50,000-token document | $0.118per L2 task | $0.139per L2 task | $1,716.96per month | $2,032.32per month | −15.5 % |
| L3Agentic coding loop, 15 steps | $0.940per L3 task | $1.09per L3 task | $13,720.35per month | $15,890.64per month | −13.7 % |
Calculated Per month: 20 tasks an hour around the clock, 730 hours.
Prices USD per 1M tokens
| Price | Mistral Large 4 | Qwen3.8 27B |
|---|---|---|
| Input, per 1M tokens | $0.700 | $0.800 |
| Output, per 1M tokens | $2.10 | $4.00 |
| Price from | Provider's price list · source page Published | Provider's price list · source page Published |
| Read | · the United States | · the United States |
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,024,000 tokens |
What can I use it for? six common tasks, our data checks
Quality on your task: not measured by Measured Lab yet.
| Task | Mistral Large 4 | Qwen3.8 27B |
|---|---|---|
| Answer customer messages | Fits on price and context | — |
| Pull data from invoices and documents with strict JSON and page images | Fits on price and context | — |
| Summarize documents and meetings | Fits on price and context | — |
| Translate content | Fits on price and context | — |
| Chat assistant on your website | Fits on price and context | — |
| Write and review code with tool calls | Fits on price and context | — |
| Tasks it fits | 6 of 6 | — |
Checks of our data for six common tasks: a published price, a context window and answer length for the task and, where the task needs them, strict JSON output, page images and tool calls; prices, cost a month and terms for each model on its model card. Qwen3.8 27B is not in the model picker. Compare models for your own task in the model picker.
Speed in the US Observed our test requests
In our test requests from the United States, the median time to the first answer token was 634 ms for Mistral Large 4 (Direct API · Mistral) and 139 ms for Qwen3.8 27B (Hosted by Cerebras).
| Model and route | Time to first answer token, median | Output speed, median | Answers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mistral Large 4Direct API · Mistral | 634 ms range 489 ms–7,389 ms | 91.3 tokens/s range 12.9 tokens/s–212 tokens/s | 65 answers on 13 dates |
| Mistral Large 4OpenRouter → Mistral | 753 ms range 491 ms–6,018 ms | 82.2 tokens/s range 7.0 tokens/s–222 tokens/s | 65 answers on 13 dates |
| Qwen3.8 27BHosted by Cerebras | 139 ms range 98 ms–16,848 ms | 610 tokens/s range 199 tokens/s–627 tokens/s | 115 answers on 23 dates |
| Qwen3.8 27BHosted by Groq | 195 ms range 102 ms–1,095 ms | 494 tokens/s range 210 tokens/s–528 tokens/s | 115 answers on 23 dates |
The same short request to every model, sent from a measurement point in the United States; medians of successful answers on at least 2 different dates, latest on . How we measure
What breaks when you switch Published provider documentation
Moving from Mistral to Qwen, 1 of the 5 features may not carry over, by each provider’s documentation:
- Strict JSON schemas — Mistral: yes; Qwen: partly. Code that parses answers without checks starts failing where a provider promises only valid JSON, not your schema.
Moving from Qwen to Mistral, 1 of the 5 features may not carry over, by each provider’s documentation:
- Reasoning with tools — Qwen: yes; Mistral: not stated. Switching reasoning on can rule out some tool settings or output formats, or the other way round.
| Feature of the API | Mistral | Qwen |
|---|---|---|
| Strict JSON schemas | Yes | Partly |
| Parallel tool calls | Yes | Yes |
| Streamed tool arguments | Not stated | Not stated |
| Reasoning with tools | Not stated | Yes |
| Cache covers tool definitions | Not stated | Not stated |
What each provider’s own API documentation says, read ; “not stated” is not the same as “no”. Quotes and sources: what breaks when you switch AI APIs.
Price changes in the last 30 days
- The listed price of Mistral Large 4 changed on on OpenRouter: input $0.68 → $1.36, output $2.09 → $4.18 per 1M tokens.
- The listed price of Mistral Large 4 changed on on OpenRouter: input $1.36 → $0.70, output $4.18 → $2.10 per 1M tokens.
- The listed price of Mistral Large 4 changed on on the provider's price list: input $1.36 → $0.70, output $4.18 → $2.10 per 1M tokens.
- The listed price of Qwen3.8 27B changed on on OpenRouter: input $0.24 → $0.04, output $2.20 → $1.35 per 1M tokens.
- The listed price of Qwen3.8 27B changed on on OpenRouter: input $0.04 → $0.20, output $1.35 → $2.50 per 1M tokens.
- The listed price of Qwen3.8 27B changed on on OpenRouter: input $0.20 → $0.04, output $2.50 → $1.25 per 1M tokens.
- The listed price of Qwen3.8 27B changed on on OpenRouter: input $0.04 → $0.15, output $1.25 → $1.88 per 1M tokens.