AI Models · Open-Source vs Paid

Mistral Large 4 Open vs Claude Haiku 5.5 Paid

Mistral Large 4 vs Claude Haiku 5.5 compared — price per token, context window, multimodality, openness and which to choose. Can the open-source model replace the paid one? Full 2026 breakdown.

Prices & specs refreshed from live data · olud.ai

Open-model prices = cheapest provider via OpenRouter; official maker rates may be higher.

Mistral Large 4OpenMistral AI
$1.36 /M input
$4.18 /M outputNo per-token fees if you self-host
TypeOpen-weight
Context window1M tokens
MultimodalYes
Self-hostYes
Claude Haiku 5.5PaidAnthropic
$0.1 /M input
$0.5 /M outputManaged API (no infra to run)
TypeProprietary
Context window1M tokens
MultimodalYes
Self-hostNo
Choose Mistral Large 4 if you want to self-host, keep your data private and skip per-token fees — it's open-weight and runs on your own hardware. Choose Claude Haiku 5.5 if you want frontier capability through a managed API with zero infrastructure to run.

Mistral Large 4 vs Claude Haiku 5.5 specs

SpecMistral Large 4Claude Haiku 5.5Winner
MakerMistral AIAnthropic–
TypeOpen-weightProprietaryMistral Large 4
Context window1M tokens1M tokensMistral Large 4
Input price$1.36/M · free self-host$0.1/MClaude Haiku 5.5
Output price$4.18/M · free self-host$0.5/MClaude Haiku 5.5
Vision / multimodalYesYes= Tie
Tool / function callingYesYes= Tie
Self-hostableYesNo (API only)Mistral Large 4
LicenseApache 2.0ProprietaryMistral Large 4

Price gap & when to choose each

8.4×cheaper per output token

Claude Haiku 5.5 is ~8.4× cheaper than Mistral Large 4 on output tokens ($0.5 vs $4.18 per M tokens).

Choose Mistral Large 4 if…
  • You want to self-host or run on your cloud
  • You need the longer 1M context window
  • You prioritize data privacy & control
  • You are building open or reproducible AI
Choose Claude Haiku 5.5 if…
  • You want frontier performance through a managed API
  • You want the lower output price
  • You value reliability & ecosystem
  • You don't want to manage infrastructure

Feature comparison

CapabilityMistral Large 4Claude Haiku 5.5
Open weights (downloadable)✓✗
Self-hostable✓✗
Runs fully offline✓✗
Vision / multimodal✓✓
Tool / function calling✓✓
1M+ context window✓✓

Benchmarks: Mistral Large 4 vs Claude Haiku 5.5

Independent benchmark scores measured by Artificial Analysis. Higher is better (except latency).

Claude Haiku 5.5 delivers 12× more intelligence per dollar.
Mistral Large 4
Claude Haiku 5.5
Intelligence index
38.4
43.4
Humanity's Last Exam
35%
44.4%
Long Context Reasoning
81.3%
82.7%
SciCode
54.2%
55%
Speed
118.2 tok/s
235.2 tok/s
Latency
0.77s
218.11s
Intelligence per $
18.6
217

Benchmark data by Artificial Analysis.

How Mistral Large 4 and Claude Haiku 5.5 score

🏆 Best value & openness: Mistral Large 4 (4.8 vs 3.5 / 5)
CriterionMistral Large 4Claude Haiku 5.5
Cost-efficiency4.05.0
Context window5.05.0
Openness5.01.5
Self-hosting5.01.0
Multimodality5.05.0

Scores come from live data — output price (cost), context length, open vs closed weights (openness & self-hosting) and vision/tool support (multimodality). Raw task quality isn't scored here; it depends on your benchmark — see the verdict.

What each model is

Mistral Large 4 Open

Mistral AI · Open-weight

Mistral Large 4 is a frontier multimodal (text and image input) model from Mistral AI built for reasoning, coding, and agentic workloads. It offers a 1M-token context window with up...

Claude Haiku 5.5 Paid

Anthropic · Proprietary

Claude Haiku 5.5 is Anthropic's small, fast model for high-volume, cost-sensitive work such as summarization, subagents, and browser use. It succeeds Claude Haiku 4.5 with stronger coding, computer use, and...

Other models in these families

These variants are tracked but not compared here — one page per family keeps the comparison readable.

Other variants tracked
Mistral Medium 3.5Mistral Medium 3.5 (batch)Mistral Small 4Mistral Large 3 2512Mistral Medium 3.1Mistral Medium 3Devstral 2 2512Mistral Small 3.1 24BMistral Small 3.2 24BMistral LargeMistral Large 2407Mistral Small 3SabaMinistral 3 14B 2512Mixtral 8x22B InstructMinistral 3 8B 2512Ministral 3 3B 2512UncensoredCodestral 2508Voxtral Small 24B 2507Mistral Nemo
Other variants tracked
Claude Haiku 5.5 (batch)Claude Haiku 4.5Claude Haiku 4.5 (batch)

Frequently asked questions

Is Mistral Large 4 as good as Claude Haiku 5.5?

Mistral Large 4 is open-weight and competitive on many tasks, but Claude Haiku 5.5 may still lead on the hardest reasoning and agentic work. The gap keeps narrowing — benchmark both on your actual use case before deciding.

Can I run Mistral Large 4 locally?

Yes. Mistral Large 4 has open weights, so you can self-host it on your own GPUs or run it via a low-cost API. Claude Haiku 5.5 is API-only and cannot be self-hosted.

Mistral Large 4 vs Claude Haiku 5.5 — which should I pick in 2026?

Choose Mistral Large 4 if you want to self-host, keep your data private and skip per-token fees — it's open-weight and runs on your own hardware. Choose Claude Haiku 5.5 if you want frontier capability through a managed API with zero infrastructure to run.

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