Codestral vs o3
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
o3 by OpenAI wins on 9 of 15 benchmarks against Codestral by Mistral, which leads on 6. This head-to-head comparison covers coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing metrics from our benchmark data.
Category-by-Category Breakdown
General Intelligence: In general intelligence, o3 scores 1380 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Codestral's 1260, while o3 scores 84.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Codestral's 68.0%.
Coding: In coding, o3 scores 90.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Codestral's 86.0%, while o3 scores 69.1% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Codestral's 40.0%, while o3 scores 70.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Codestral's 48.0%.
Math: In math, o3 scores 96.0% on MATH compared to Codestral's 72.0%, while o3 scores 98.5% on GSM8K compared to Codestral's 88.0%.
Reasoning: In reasoning, o3 scores 83.3% on GPQA Diamond compared to Codestral's 44.0%, while o3 scores 75.7% on ARC-AGI compared to Codestral's 24.0%.
Context: In context, Codestral scores 256K on Context Length compared to o3's 200K.
Pricing Comparison
Codestral costs $0.30/1M input tokens and $0.90/1M output tokens, while o3 costs $2.0/1M input and $8.0/1M output. Codestral is the more affordable option for API usage.
Speed Comparison
Codestral generates output at 90 tok/s compared to o3's 40 tok/s, and the time to first token is 280 ms for Codestral versus 800 ms for o3. Codestral delivers faster throughput.
Verdict
For developers prioritizing affordability and speed, Codestral has the edge. For those who value coding and general intelligence and math, o3 is the stronger choice.
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Codestral vs o3 — FAQ
Which is better, Codestral or o3?
o3 wins on more benchmarks overall (9 vs 6). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.
How does Codestral compare to o3 for coding?
o3 is better for coding, scoring 69.1% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 40.0%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.
Is Codestral cheaper than o3?
Yes, Codestral is cheaper. Codestral costs $0.30/1M input and $0.90/1M output tokens. o3 costs $2.0/1M input and $8.0/1M output tokens.
Which is faster, Codestral or o3?
Codestral is faster, generating output at 90 tok/s compared to 40 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.
What benchmarks does the Codestral vs o3 comparison cover?
This comparison covers 15 benchmarks including Chatbot Arena ELO, MMLU-Pro, HumanEval+, MATH, GPQA Diamond, SWE-bench Verified, Output Speed, LiveCodeBench, and more. Metrics span general intelligence, coding, math, reasoning, speed, and cost categories.