Mistral just dropped Codestral 25.01, their first code model built specifically for AI programming assistants. I tested it out, and the results are impressive. The model tops the LMsys Copilot Arena leaderboard, beating every other code model.
Here’s what makes Codestral 25.01 stand out:
First, it has a 256k context window. That means it can process and understand massive chunks of code at once – way more than most other models. This extra context helps it catch subtle patterns and dependencies that shorter-context models might miss.
It speaks over 80 programming languages fluently. Beyond the usual suspects like Python and JavaScript, it handles niche languages like Fortran and Swift. This broad language support makes it practical for almost any development project.
But the real magic is in how it thinks about code. It doesn’t just autocomplete – it understands what you’re trying to build. It can generate entire functions, translate between languages, refactor existing code, and even hunt down bugs.
The best part? You can use it right now for free in Continue, an open-source VS Code extension. No subscription needed.
I’m particularly excited about what this means for indie developers and small teams. High-quality AI code assistance used to require expensive subscriptions. Now we have a top-performing model available at no cost.
The model’s performance speaks for itself. It’s not just competitive – it’s leading the pack on benchmarks. Nate Sesti, CTO of Continue.dev, noted that we’ve never had a public autocomplete model with this combination of speed and quality before.
If you want to try it out yourself, just install Continue in VS Code and start coding. The model will be there to help with suggestions, rewrites, and debugging.
I’ll be testing Codestral 25.01 extensively over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for detailed examples and performance comparisons.
