Mistral Large 4 vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Mistral Large 4 is Mistral's flagship open-weight model, still in public preview. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is DeepSeek's low-cost open-weights workhorse.
Our verdict
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is the cheaper model by a wide margin: $0.15 / $0.60 per 1M tokens against $1.36 / $4.18 for Mistral Large 4's preview price, about nine times less on input. Mistral says Mistral Large 4's weights arrive at the end of October 2026, which would make it a self-hosting option for teams that want a European vendor, but until they ship it is a preview API. Both vendors report DeepSWE v1.1 coding scores (Mistral 61.7%, DeepSeek 74.2%), but these are each vendor's own numbers on its own setup, and we have no independent index score for Mistral Large 4 yet.
Benchmarks measure test tasks, not your business. Run a real job through both models before you commit.
Side by side
| Mistral Large 4 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Lab | Mistral | DeepSeek |
| List price per 1M tokens (input / output) | $1.36 / $4.18 | $0.15 / $0.60 |
| Scheduled price | - | - |
| Price notes | Public-preview price on Mistral Studio; Mistral has not published a general-availability rate. | Off-peak rate; peak hours (01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC on weekdays) are $0.30 / $1.20. |
| Example job at list price | $2.20 | $0.27 |
| Context window | Not published | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Released | ||
| Open weights | Yes | Yes |
1M tokens in and 200K tokens out. List price only: models write different amounts, so a finished job can cost more or less. (1,000,000 / 200,000)
Benchmark rows are left out of this comparison because we do not have comparable independent scores for both models.
Common questions
Is Mistral Large 4 open source?
Mistral describes it as open-weight and says the weights will be released at the end of October 2026. At launch it is only a public API preview, so you cannot self-host it yet.
How much does Mistral Large 4 cost?
The public-preview price on Mistral Studio is $1.36 in and $4.18 out per 1M tokens. Mistral has not published a general-availability rate, so treat it as provisional.
Which is better for a small business?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, because it costs about a ninth as much on input and is available today. Look at Mistral Large 4 when its weights ship if you need a European vendor or want to self-host.
Sources
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