LongCat-2.5 vs Mistral Medium 3
Meituan · China | Mistral AI · France · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick LongCat-2.5 for native multimodal upgrade to longcat-2.0 - 1.6t total parameters, about 48b active per token or limited-time api price of $0.30/$1.20 per million tokens (cached input $0.006). 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, LongCat-2.5 is the value pick.
LongCat-2.5 (Meituan, China) 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. LongCat-2.5 is meituan's November 2, 2026 natively multimodal successor to LongCat-2.0 - 1.6T parameters and 1M context at $0.30/$1.20, with open weights planned but undated. 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: LongCat-2.5 is about 1.3× cheaper on input ($0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens vs $0.4/$2 per 1M tokens) — modest, but it adds up at steady volume.
- ▸Context window: LongCat-2.5 holds 7.8× more — 1M tokens (~1,500 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: LongCat-2.5 is the newer model by about 18 months (released November 2, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
- ▸Ecosystem: this is a China-vs-France matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | LongCat-2.5 | Mistral Medium 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Meituan (China) | Mistral AI (France) |
| Released | November 2, 2026 | May 7, 2025 |
| Context window | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) | 128K (~192 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $0.3/$1.2 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
Native multimodal upgrade to LongCat-2.0 - 1.6T total parameters, about 48B active per token
LongCat-2.5
Its 1M tokens window holds about 7.8× more than Mistral Medium 3's 128K in a single prompt.
Limited-time API price of $0.30/$1.20 per million tokens (cached input $0.006)
LongCat-2.5
At $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens it undercuts Mistral Medium 3 ($0.4/$2 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
Meituan-reported Terminal-Bench v2.1 of 88.4, up from 70.8 for LongCat-2.0
LongCat-2.5
Mistral Medium 3 is comparatively weak here — no published SWE-Bench Verified score
Strong cost-to-capability at $0.40/$2.00
Mistral Medium 3
Mistral Medium 3 lists strong cost-to-capability at $0.40/$2.00 among its strengths; LongCat-2.5 does not.
General reasoning, coding and multimodal tasks
Mistral Medium 3
Mistral Medium 3 lists general reasoning, coding and multimodal tasks among its strengths; LongCat-2.5 does not.
Efficient mid-tier deployment for production workloads
Mistral Medium 3
Mistral Medium 3 lists efficient mid-tier deployment for production workloads among its strengths; LongCat-2.5 does not.
Lowest cost at scale
LongCat-2.5
At $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
LongCat-2.5
Its 1M tokens window is about 7.8× larger than Mistral Medium 3's 128K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ LongCat-2.5
At $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens it undercuts Mistral Medium 3, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ LongCat-2.5
Larger 1M tokens window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is native multimodal upgrade to longcat-2.0 - 1.6t total parameters, about 48b active per token
→ LongCat-2.5
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
→ Mistral Medium 3 or LongCat-2.5
Origin (China vs France) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
LongCat-2.5: where it fits
Meituan's November 2, 2026 natively multimodal successor to LongCat-2.0 - 1.6T parameters and 1M context at $0.30/$1.20, with open weights planned but undated. Released November 2, 2026 by Meituan, it is built for native multimodal upgrade to LongCat-2.0 - 1.6T total parameters, about 48B active per token, limited-time API price of $0.30/$1.20 per million tokens (cached input $0.006), meituan-reported Terminal-Bench v2.1 of 88.4, up from 70.8 for LongCat-2.0, and openAI- and Anthropic-compatible API endpoints with a 1M-token context window.
Its trade-offs are real: aPI-only for now - GitHub and Hugging Face releases are planned but undated, and the license is unconfirmed (LongCat-2.0 is MIT), the $0.30/$1.20 rate is labeled limited-time, and Meituan says prices are subject to change, and benchmarks are Meituan's own, and sources found no independent score at launch. At $0.3 in / $1.2 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." LongCat-2.5 (China) and Mistral Medium 3 (France) differ on pricing philosophy, data-residency, and tooling as much as on raw scores. LongCat-2.5 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 LongCat-2.5 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 LongCat-2.5 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, LongCat-2.5 leans toward native multimodal upgrade to longcat-2.0 - 1.6t total parameters, about 48b active per token 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, LongCat-2.5 or Mistral Medium 3?
LongCat-2.5 is cheaper — $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens vs $0.4/$2 per 1M tokens, roughly 1.3× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
LongCat-2.5 — 1M tokens vs 128K, about 7.8× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both LongCat-2.5 and Mistral Medium 3 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you LongCat-2.5, 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, LongCat-2.5 or Mistral Medium 3?
LongCat-2.5 — released November 2, 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.