Llama Guard 4 12B vs Mistral Small 4
Llama Guard 4 12B costs 3.3x less per output token than Mistral Small 4 ($0.18 vs $0.60 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.18
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.60
Llama Guard 4 12B or Mistral Small 4: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Llama Guard 4 12B for output tokens 3.3x cheaper ($0.18 vs $0.60 per million).
No benchmark has tested both yet. Llama Guard 4 12B has none yet; Mistral Small 4 on AA Coding Index, Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) and SciCode. Compare them on price and context instead.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Mistral Small 4 has a AA Intelligence Index result, 11.3.
Directional only
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Mistral Small 4 has a AA Agentic Index result, 0.8.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Mistral Small 4
Mistral Small 4 takes 262K tokens against 164K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Llama Guard 4 12B
Llama Guard 4 12B $0.0003, Mistral Small 4 $0.0004 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Llama Guard 4 12B not benchmarked, Mistral Small 4 not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- None yet: no category has been tested on both models.
- Widest single gap
- None yet: no benchmark has tested both models.
- Output price
- Llama Guard 4 12B $0.18 against Mistral Small 4 $0.60 per million output tokens, 3.3x apart.
- Context window
- Llama Guard 4 12B takes 164K tokens, Mistral Small 4 262K.
Benchmark by benchmark
Every board either model has a result on, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale. Only one model is measured on each, so no row names a leader.
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index5 boards measured
| Benchmark | Llama Guard 4 12B | Mistral Small 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 26.6 | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 0.0% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 38.8% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 17.4% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| ALE-Bench | Not measured | 497.6 | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 34 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Llama Guard 4 12B | Mistral Small 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 11.3 | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Llama Guard 4 12B | Mistral Small 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 0.8 | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 41.2% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 39 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards measured
| Benchmark | Llama Guard 4 12B | Mistral Small 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 76.9% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 9.9% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | Not measured | 40.5% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards measured
| Benchmark | Llama Guard 4 12B | Mistral Small 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | Not measured | 48.2% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | Not measured | 49.7% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| DTBench | Not measured | 70.9% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 20.6% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 42 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Llama Guard 4 12B costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Mistral Small 4 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Mistral Small 4 costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Meta Llama Guard 4 12B | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Meta Llama | Mistral AI |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | April 30, 2025 | March 16, 2026 |
| Context window | 164K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.18 | $0.15 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.18 | $0.60 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 1 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Llama Guard 4 12B better than Mistral Small 4 for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Llama Guard 4 12B for output tokens 3.3x cheaper ($0.18 vs $0.60 per million).
Which is cheaper, Llama Guard 4 12B or Mistral Small 4?
Llama Guard 4 12B costs $0.18 per million input tokens and $0.18 per million output tokens; Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15 and $0.60. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Llama Guard 4 12B or Mistral Small 4?
Mistral Small 4, with 262K tokens against 164K.
Has any benchmark tested both Llama Guard 4 12B and Mistral Small 4?
No benchmark has tested both yet. Llama Guard 4 12B has none yet; Mistral Small 4 on AA Coding Index, Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) and SciCode. Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 22, 2026.