Codestral vs Grok 3 mini
Grok 3 mini is cheaper for every workload modelled here.
List prices checked
Specifications and rates
| Property | Codestral | Grok 3 mini |
|---|---|---|
| Input per 1M | $0.300 | $0.300 |
| Output per 1M | $0.900 | $0.500 |
| Cached input per 1M | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.450 | $0.350 |
| Context window | 262K | 131K |
| Max output | — | — |
| Inputs accepted | text | text |
Source: Mistral AI pricing (May 2026) · xAI pricing (May 2026). Published list prices only — committed-use discounts, regional variation, and per-request charges are not included. Not yet independently re-checked against the vendor’s page.
Monthly cost by workload
Identical token volumes through both rate cards. Output-heavy profiles are where the ranking flips.
| Workload | Codestral | Grok 3 mini | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-app chat assistantA support or help assistant handling a few thousand conversations a month, with short prompts and short answers. | $11 | $8.50 | Grok 3 minisaves $2.00/mo (19%) |
| RAG over documentsRetrieval-augmented answering where each request stuffs several retrieved passages into the prompt, so input dominates. | $104 | $98 | Grok 3 minisaves $6.00/mo (6%) |
| Coding agentAn agentic loop that reads files and writes patches, generating heavy output and re-sending large context on every turn. | $210 | $170 | Grok 3 minisaves $40/mo (19%) |
What each one is for
Codestral
by Mistral AI
A code-specialised model tuned for fill-in-the-middle completion, priced for the high request volume that inline editor autocomplete generates.
Grok 3 mini
by xAI
An unusually cheap reasoning model, with output priced below most competitors' input rates — which matters because reasoning models are output-heavy by nature.
Common questions
- Is Codestral or Grok 3 mini cheaper in 2026?
- Grok 3 mini, for every workload modelled here. On a blended 3:1 basis it costs $0.350 per million tokens against Codestral's $0.450.
- Which has the larger context window?
- Codestral, at 262K tokens against 131K. A larger window only helps if you can afford to fill it — the cost of one full-context request is in the table above.
- Which is cheaper for output-heavy work like agents?
- Grok 3 mini, at $0.500 per million output tokens against $0.900. Reasoning tokens bill as output, so for agentic loops this axis usually decides the invoice regardless of what the input rates look like.
- What is not included in these figures?
- Batch-processing discounts, fine-tuning, long-context surcharges above a provider's standard tier, and any enterprise agreement. These are published pay-as-you-go list prices, checked against each provider's own pricing page on the date shown.
- Is switching from Codestral to Grok 3 mini worth it?
- On price alone it is about 22% cheaper on a blended basis. Whether that survives contact with your workload depends on output quality and on retry rate — a cheaper model that needs two attempts is not cheaper. Model the specific volumes in the calculator before you migrate.