Magistral Medium vs o3
Pricing verdict: Magistral Medium vs o3: input pricing is tied at $2.00/M, Magistral Medium is cheaper for output-heavy usage ($5.00/M output), and o3 is better for long-context tasks (1,000,000 tokens).
Direct answer: input pricing is tied. Choose Magistral Medium for cheaper output and choose o3 when your workload needs longer context.
Compare API pricing, input and output token costs, context windows, and monthly estimates on one page so you can pick the right model fast.
Cost Comparison (1000 input + 500 output tokens, 100 requests/day)
Magistral Medium
o3
Cost Differences
o3 costs more than Magistral Medium
Quick Recommendation
Winner for direct API pricing: Magistral Medium. At the default workload, Magistral Medium saves about $4.50/month ($54.75/year) versus o3.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Magistral Medium | o3 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Mistral AI | OpenAI |
| Input Price | $2.00/1M tokens | $2.00/1M tokens |
| Output Price | $5.00/1M tokens | $8.00/1M tokens |
| Context Window | 128,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max Output | 32,768 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Category | reasoning | reasoning |
| Capabilities | textreasoning | textreasoningvisioncode |
| Release Date | 12/15/2025 | 4/16/2025 |
Magistral Medium vs o3: Which Should You Choose?
Choosing between Magistral Medium and o3 depends on your priorities: cost efficiency, context length, or raw capability. Both models charge $2.00/1M input tokens, but Magistral Medium is cheaper on output at $5.00/1M. Meanwhile, o3 offers a significantly larger context window at 1,000,000 tokens vs 128,000 for Magistral Medium.
These models come from different providers — Mistral AI and OpenAI — which means different API ecosystems, SDKs, rate limits, and terms of service. If you're already integrated with Mistral AI, switching to OpenAIinvolves migration effort beyond just pricing. Factor in your existing infrastructure when deciding.
Both models are in the reasoning category, making this a direct head-to-head comparison. At scale — say 10,000 requests per day — the cost difference adds up: Magistral Medium would save you roughly $450.00/month compared to o3. For startups and indie developers, that difference can be significant.
Output costs matter too. Magistral Medium charges $5.00/1M output tokens vs $8.00 for o3. For generation-heavy workloads (content creation, code generation, summarization), output pricing often dominates your bill. Magistral Medium has the edge here at $5.00/1M output tokens.
Multimodal capabilities: o3 supports vision (image inputs) while Magistral Medium is text-only. If your application needs image understanding, this narrows your choice.
Best Use Cases
Choose Magistral Medium when:
- • You're already using Mistral AI's API ecosystem
Choose o3 when:
- • You need a larger context window (1,000,000 tokens)
- • You need more capabilities (vision, code)
- • You need longer outputs (up to 131,072 tokens)
- • You're already using OpenAI's API ecosystem
Pros and Caveats at a Glance
Magistral Medium
- • Input pricing: $2.00/M tokens
- • Output pricing: $5.00/M tokens
- • Context window: 128,000 tokens
- • Max output: 32,768 tokens
Watch out for
- • Smaller context window than o3
o3
- • Input pricing: $2.00/M tokens
- • Output pricing: $8.00/M tokens
- • Context window: 1,000,000 tokens
- • Max output: 131,072 tokens
Watch out for
- • Higher output cost than Magistral Medium
Try Different Scenarios
Use the calculator below to see how costs change with different usage patterns
Magistral Medium (Mistral AI)
o3 (OpenAI)
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Sign Up for OpenAI →Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper, Magistral Medium or o3?▼
What is the context window difference between Magistral Medium and o3?▼
Which model is better for AI Chatbot?▼
Which model has better overall pricing for heavy usage?▼
Where can I compare Mistral AI and OpenAI API pricing beyond this model matchup?▼
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