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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek V3 0324 vs Mistral Small 3.2

Mistral Small 3.2 comes out ahead, 60 to 54 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek V3 0324

    Released Mar 24, 2025

    54/100
    • ECI135.9
    • Price$0.24 / $0.90
    • Context164K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek V3 0324
  2. Our pick

    Mistral AI

    Mistral Small 3.2

    Released Jun 20, 2025

    60/100
    • ECI131.7
    • Price$0.10 / $0.30
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Mistral Small 3.2

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Mistral Small 3.2 is our pick

Mistral Small 3.2 is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against DeepSeek V3 0324 (54). It leads on price and inputs & features. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on capability and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek V3 0324Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 · Mistral Small 3.2 131.7
  • Lowest priceMistral Small 3.2Mistral Small 3.2 $0.15 · DeepSeek V3 0324 $0.405 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextDeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek V3 0324 163,840 · Mistral Small 3.2 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsMistral Small 3.2DeepSeek V3 0324: Text · Mistral Small 3.2: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek V3 0324Mistral Small 3.2
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6055
Price25%6889
Inputs & features15%2550
Context window10%2824
Overall100%54/10060/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

DeepSeek V3 0324 vs Mistral Small 3.2 specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeekMistral Small 3.2Mistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)135.9 (best)131.7
ECI rank#114 of 148 (best)#123 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions67.6% (best)49.1%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics37.8% (best)30.3%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.24$0.10 (best)
Output$0.90$0.30 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.405$0.15 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 5 providersOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window163,840 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output163,840 tokens (best)16,384 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID—mistral-small-2506
API providers56 (best)
ReleasedMar 24, 2025Jun 20, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Mar 2025
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • DeepSeek V3 0324$4.20
  • Mistral Small 3.2$1.60
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek V3 0324 or Mistral Small 3.2?

Mistral Small 3.2 is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against DeepSeek V3 0324 (54). It leads on price and inputs & features. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on capability and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V3 0324 or Mistral Small 3.2?

Mistral Small 3.2 is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). DeepSeek V3 0324 costs $0.24 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for Mistral Small 3.2 versus $0.405 for DeepSeek V3 0324 (2.7× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek V3 0324 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 (#114 of 148) and Mistral Small 3.2 131.7 (#123 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (132.4–138.0 vs 126.6–133.9), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek V3 0324 67.6%, Mistral Small 3.2 49.1%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — DeepSeek V3 0324 37.8%, Mistral Small 3.2 30.3%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek V3 0324 and Mistral Small 3.2 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek V3 0324 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

DeepSeek V3 0324 has the largest context window at 163,840 tokens, against 128,000 for Mistral Small 3.2. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek V3 0324 up to 163,840, Mistral Small 3.2 up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek V3 0324 accepts text; Mistral Small 3.2 accepts text and images. Mistral Small 3.2 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Mistral Small 3.2 is the newest, released Jun 20, 2025. DeepSeek V3 0324 came out Mar 24, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Small 3.2 Mar 2025.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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