Llama Guard 4 12B vs Ministral 3 3B
Price and specs side by side · USD per 1M tokens · verified 2026-10-23
// side by side
| metric | Llama Guard 4 12B | Ministral 3 3B |
|---|
| input / 1M | $0.18 | $0.10 |
| output / 1M | $0.18 | $0.10 |
| blended (3:1) | $0.18 | $0.10 |
| cache read / 1M | — | $0.01 |
| context | 163.8K | 131.1K |
| max output | 163.8K | 262.1K |
| input types | text · image | text · image · pdf |
| reasoning | no | no |
| tool calling | no | yes |
| structured output | no | yes |
| open weights | yes | yes |
| released | 2025-04-29 | 2025-12-02 |
| knowledge cutoff | n/a | n/a |
| lab | Meta | Mistral |
// monthly cost scenarios
| workload | tokens in / out | Llama Guard 4 12B | Ministral 3 3B |
|---|
| Chatbot | 10M / 2M | $2.16 | $1.20 |
| RAG app | 50M / 5M | $9.90 | $5.50 |
| Coding agent | 20M / 10M | $5.40 | $3.00 |
// verdict
- Ministral 3 3B is 44.4% cheaper than Llama Guard 4 12B on a blended 3:1 input/output basis.
- Llama Guard 4 12B has the larger context window (163.8K vs 131.1K tokens).
- Only Ministral 3 3B supports tool calling.
- Only Ministral 3 3B supports structured output.
- Chatbot (10M input / 2M output tokens per month): Ministral 3 3B costs $1.20 vs $2.16 for Llama Guard 4 12B, saving $0.96 per month.
- RAG app (50M input / 5M output tokens per month): Ministral 3 3B costs $5.50 vs $9.90 for Llama Guard 4 12B, saving $4.40 per month.
- Coding agent (20M input / 10M output tokens per month): Ministral 3 3B costs $3.00 vs $5.40 for Llama Guard 4 12B, saving $2.40 per month.
// Llama Guard 4 12B or Ministral 3 3B: which one to choose
- Choose Ministral 3 3B for cost-sensitive, high-volume workloads.
- Choose Llama Guard 4 12B for long documents and large codebases (163.8K-token context).
- Choose Ministral 3 3B if you need tool calling.
- Choose Ministral 3 3B if you need structured output.