Goal: identify which kind of Mistral you are using
A colleague says: “Let’s try Mistral, it’s free.” You do not know whether they mean a free web app, a downloadable model you could install on your computer, or something else entirely. Mistral is a company that does all of these: the same name covers models released with open weights as well as commercial models, and the name alone does not tell you which you would be using right now.
Check which kind of Mistral you are using in four steps
- 1
Open Mistral’s official model catalogue
Go to docs.mistral.ai/models in your browser. Pick one model whose name catches your eye and look at the licence or availability label next to it.
- 2
Work out what the label means
If a particular model has downloadable weights and a licence permitting self-hosting, you may be able to run it on your own hardware within those terms. If the offering is API-only, you cannot download its weights from that offering; you access it through the provider's service. A commercial label by itself does not settle weight availability. Check the exact model and licence.
- 3
Open Vibe and ask the same question
Open Vibe using the button below. Ask it directly which exact model it is using with you right now and whether it is open or commercial.
- 4
Compare the answer with the model catalogue
Check whether Vibe could tell you its model’s name with certainty. Compare the name with what you saw in step one. Now you know whether you just used an open or commercial Mistral model — or you know that you do not yet know, and where to check.
Vibe opens in a new tab. Return to this guide when you want to copy the next request.
Open Vibe and try it (opens in a new tab)Try this
Ask which model you are using and where you could check
Tell me directly and honestly whether you know for certain which exact Mistral model I am using in this conversation right now, or whether you are only guessing. If you do not know for certain, say so and do not invent an answer. Then tell me one official Mistral page where I could verify it myself before using that information to decide whether I may use this model as part of my own product.
Compatible with: Vibe
What an open licence lets you do in practice
Your own version without permission from Mistral
Example prompt:
A software company wants to offer its own free AI assistant using the same language model that Mistral itself uses in Vibe.
Result:
If the model is released with downloadable weights, the company may build its own assistant within the model licence, without a separate agreement when the licence permits that use. If this exact model is offered only via Mistral's API, the company cannot download those weights and host a local copy from that offering; it can use the API as a customer. Whether its own competing assistant is permitted depends on the applicable API terms, not on the word commercial alone.
Using it on a train without an internet connection
Example prompt:
You want help from AI to write text during a train journey with no internet connection.
Result:
You can download a model released with open weights to your own computer beforehand and use it without an internet connection if your hardware can run it. A commercial model available only through a service cannot be used offline at all, because the request always has to reach Mistral’s server.
Adapting a model to your industry’s terminology
Example prompt:
A company wants to teach a model its industry’s specialist terms permanently within the model, rather than just in the instructions for a single conversation.
Result:
You can further train an open model’s weights yourself or ask an external provider to do it, because the weights are available. You cannot modify the inner workings of a commercial model accessed only through an API in the same way — you can use only the customisation methods Mistral itself provides through the service or API.
Check and improve
If you could not find the model’s name
Suppose I could not find the model’s name anywhere in Vibe’s interface. Give me three other ways to find out whether I am currently using an open or commercial Mistral model, and explain how reliable each method is.
This follow-up question shows that you do not have to keep guessing the model’s type. If one way of checking does not work or feels uncertain, you can always ask for a more reliable method in the same conversation.
Even open models have two kinds of licence
Read the licence for that specific model
Mistral’s open models do not share a single licence. Most are released under Apache 2.0 without additional conditions, but some use a modified MIT licence: it allows the same uses as Apache 2.0, except that a company with monthly revenue above 20 million dollars must either obtain a separate commercial licence or use the model through Mistral Studio. Read the licence text for the specific model on Mistral’s official model catalogue page before downloading it, building a product on top of it or redistributing it.
From a product name to checking the licence
A common request:
Is Mistral safe and free?
Try asking this instead:
Tell me which exact Mistral model I am using in this conversation right now, if that can be determined. Then explain whether this model is released with open weights or is commercial, and which official source I can use to check it myself before making decisions based on it.
“Safe and free” is not a question you can verify. The model, its licence and its price are three different things that you must check separately using an official source.
Once you understand the basics
Next, you can make the same distinction with another company: the Llama guide shows how to answer the same question for Meta’s models. The overview of open models helps you continue without having to choose one product immediately.
Free practice on this website
The same name, different terms — check the exact version
Read the material and answer based on it. The hint and assessment criteria become available only after your own attempt or after choosing “I don’t know yet”.
Your answers stay only in this browser tab. They are not sent to AI Licenses’ server or to analytics.
Question 1/3
Question 1/3
Suppose someone says they are using an image that is “Creative Commons licensed”. Based on the material, explain why this statement alone does not tell you whether the image may be used in a commercial publication or in modified form.
Use the practice activity in your own AI service (optional)
One name does not tell you what you are using.
The same company can create a model family, individual models and an app. The name appears on all of them, but does not tell you which one you are using.
Making distinctions · about 5 min
Where shall we start?
How the request is built
- Task
- Distinguish four concepts using an example
- Context
- A fictional company
- Format
- Four parts and what the name does not tell you
Distinguish a model family, an individual model, an app and a service provider. Use one fictional AI company that makes all four as your example. Finish by explaining which of these things the name alone does not tell you.
Ready to try it in a real tool?
The same request works in any assistant. Try it in the service you use most, too.
Open ChatGPTOpen does not mean unrestricted: The word “open” does not tell you which of Mistral’s two licences a model uses. Check the licence type for each model and do not assume that one Mistral model represents all of them.
Skills and concepts in this guide
Concepts
Publication details and sources
- Published:
- July 2, 2026
- Sources checked:
- September 4, 2026