GPT-6.1 Terra vs Mistral Medium 3
OpenAI · US | Mistral AI · France · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick GPT-6.1 Terra for $1/$5 per million tokens (cached input $0.05) - half the price of gpt-6.1 sol and gpt-5.6 terra or terminal-bench 4.0 of 50.3% at maximum reasoning effort, versus 21.5% for gpt-5.6 terra (openai-reported). Pick Mistral Medium 3 for strong cost-to-capability at $0.40/$2.00 or general reasoning, coding and multimodal tasks. On a tight budget at scale, Mistral Medium 3 is the value pick.
GPT-6.1 Terra (OpenAI, US) and Mistral Medium 3 (Mistral AI, France) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. GPT-6.1 Terra is openAI's October 26, 2026 mid-tier model - a 1.05M-context, computer-use-capable GPT at $1/$5 per million tokens, half the price of its predecessor. Mistral Medium 3 is mistral's mid-tier model at $0.40/$2.00 — efficient general capability with a 128K window, below the 1M-context frontier tier. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Price: Mistral Medium 3 is about 2.5× cheaper on input ($0.4/$2 per 1M tokens vs $1/$5 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
- ▸Context window: GPT-6.1 Terra holds 8.2× more — 1.05M tokens (~1,575 pages) vs 128K (~192 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
- ▸Recency: GPT-6.1 Terra is the newer model by about 18 months (released October 26, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
- ▸Ecosystem: this is a US-vs-France matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | GPT-6.1 Terra | Mistral Medium 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI (US) | Mistral AI (France) |
| Released | October 26, 2026 | May 7, 2025 |
| Context window | 1.05M tokens (~1,575 pages) | 128K (~192 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $1/$5 per 1M tokens | $0.4/$2 per 1M tokens |
| Open weight? | No — API only | No — API only |
| Modalities | text, image, code | text, image, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
$1/$5 per million tokens (cached input $0.05) - half the price of GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-5.6 Terra
GPT-6.1 Terra
Its 1.05M tokens window holds about 8.2× more than Mistral Medium 3's 128K in a single prompt.
Terminal-Bench 4.0 of 50.3% at maximum reasoning effort, versus 21.5% for GPT-5.6 Terra (OpenAI-reported)
GPT-6.1 Terra
Mistral Medium 3 is comparatively weak here — no published SWE-Bench Verified score
1.05M-token context with up to 128K output tokens, plus image input and computer use via the Responses API
GPT-6.1 Terra
Mistral Medium 3 is comparatively weak here — a 128K context — smaller than the 1M-window flagships here
Strong cost-to-capability at $0.40/$2.00
Mistral Medium 3
At $0.4/$2 per 1M tokens it undercuts GPT-6.1 Terra ($1/$5 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
General reasoning, coding and multimodal tasks
Mistral Medium 3
GPT-6.1 Terra is comparatively weak here — openAI still positions Sol and Astra as the higher-capability choices for demanding coding problems
Efficient mid-tier deployment for production workloads
Mistral Medium 3
Mistral's mid-tier model at $0.40/$2.00 — efficient general capability with a 128K window, below the 1M-context frontier tier — and it runs cheaper at $0.4/$2 per 1M tokens.
Lowest cost at scale
Mistral Medium 3
At $0.4/$2 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
GPT-6.1 Terra
Its 1.05M tokens window is about 8.2× larger than Mistral Medium 3's 128K, fitting roughly 1,575 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Mistral Medium 3
At $0.4/$2 per 1M tokens it undercuts GPT-6.1 Terra, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ GPT-6.1 Terra
Larger 1.05M tokens window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is $1/$5 per million tokens (cached input $0.05) - half the price of gpt-6.1 sol and gpt-5.6 terra
→ GPT-6.1 Terra
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is strong cost-to-capability at $0.40/$2.00
→ Mistral Medium 3
That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules
→ GPT-6.1 Terra or Mistral Medium 3
Origin (US vs France) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
GPT-6.1 Terra: where it fits
OpenAI's October 26, 2026 mid-tier model - a 1.05M-context, computer-use-capable GPT at $1/$5 per million tokens, half the price of its predecessor. Released October 26, 2026 by OpenAI, it is built for $1/$5 per million tokens (cached input $0.05) - half the price of GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-5.6 Terra, terminal-Bench 4.0 of 50.3% at maximum reasoning effort, versus 21.5% for GPT-5.6 Terra (OpenAI-reported), 1.05M-token context with up to 128K output tokens, plus image input and computer use via the Responses API, and error rate on OpenAI's hard-prompt set falls from 53.6% (GPT-5.6 Terra) to 16.7% at low effort and 4.3% at max effort.
Its trade-offs are real: openAI still positions Sol and Astra as the higher-capability choices for demanding coding problems, requests above 272K input tokens are billed at 2x input and 1.5x output for the whole request, closed weights and no fine-tuning support, and benchmark figures are vendor-reported; no SWE-bench Verified or MRCR numbers published. At $1 in / $5 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
Mistral Medium 3: where it fits
Mistral's mid-tier model at $0.40/$2.00 — efficient general capability with a 128K window, below the 1M-context frontier tier. Released May 7, 2025 by Mistral AI, it is built for strong cost-to-capability at $0.40/$2.00, general reasoning, coding and multimodal tasks, efficient mid-tier deployment for production workloads, and text and image input.
Its trade-offs: a 128K context — smaller than the 1M-window flagships here, no published SWE-Bench Verified score, a mid-tier model, not a frontier reasoner, and proprietary, unlike Mistral's open-weight releases. At $0.4 in / $2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
This is less "which is smarter" and more "which ecosystem fits." GPT-6.1 Terra (US) and Mistral Medium 3 (France) differ on pricing philosophy, data-residency, and tooling as much as on raw scores. Mistral Medium 3 is the cheaper option, which matters at volume. The pragmatic move is to run one real task through both and judge the outputs against your own constraints — including where your data is allowed to be processed.
Want both GPT-6.1 Terra and Mistral Medium 3 without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is GPT-6.1 Terra or Mistral Medium 3 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, GPT-6.1 Terra leans toward $1/$5 per million tokens (cached input $0.05) - half the price of gpt-6.1 sol and gpt-5.6 terra while Mistral Medium 3 leans toward strong cost-to-capability at $0.40/$2.00, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, GPT-6.1 Terra or Mistral Medium 3?
Mistral Medium 3 is cheaper — $1/$5 per 1M tokens vs $0.4/$2 per 1M tokens, roughly 2.5× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
GPT-6.1 Terra — 1.05M tokens vs 128K, about 8.2× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both GPT-6.1 Terra and Mistral Medium 3 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you GPT-6.1 Terra, Mistral Medium 3 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, GPT-6.1 Terra or Mistral Medium 3?
GPT-6.1 Terra — released October 26, 2026, about 18 months after Mistral Medium 3.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.