Claude Sonnet 5 vs Mistral Medium 3.5
Both are Mid-tier models, from Anthropic and Mistral AI respectively. Mistral Medium 3.5 is the cheaper choice overall at a 4:1 input:output ratio.
Which is cheaper
- Input price: Mistral Medium 3.5 is cheaper ($1.50 vs $2.00).
- Output price: Mistral Medium 3.5 is cheaper ($7.50 vs $10.00).
- Blended, 4:1 input:output ratio: Mistral Medium 3.5 is 25% cheaper ($2.70 vs $3.60 per weighted 1M tokens).
Side by side
| Spec | Claude Sonnet 5 | Mistral Medium 3.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | Mistral AI |
| Tier | Mid | Mid |
| Context window | 1M | 256K |
| Max output | 128K | — |
| Input $/1M | $2.00 | $1.50 |
| Output $/1M | $10.00 | $7.50 |
| Cache read $/1M | $0.20 | — |
| Cache write $/1M | $2.50 | — |
| Modalities | text, image | text |
Claude Sonnet 5. 5-minute cache write shown; 1-hour cache write is $4/MTok. The page now states explicitly the previously-scheduled Sep 1 2026 increase to $3/$15 will NOT occur - $2/$10 is permanent.
Sources
Claude Sonnet 5 — verified August 29, 2026
Mistral Medium 3.5 — verified August 29, 2026
Full Claude Sonnet 5 pricing page → · Full Mistral Medium 3.5 pricing page →