ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek-V3 vs Mistral Small 3.2

Mistral Small 3.2 comes out ahead, 60 to 50 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek-V3

    Released Dec 26, 2024

    50/100
    • ECI132.3
    • Price$0.32 / $1.10
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek-V3
  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 (50). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek-V3Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-V3 132.3 · Mistral Small 3.2 131.7
  • Lowest priceMistral Small 3.2Mistral Small 3.2 $0.15 · DeepSeek-V3 $0.515 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextDeepSeek-V3DeepSeek-V3 131,072 · Mistral Small 3.2 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsMistral Small 3.2DeepSeek-V3: 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-V3Mistral Small 3.2
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%5655
Price25%6489
Inputs & features15%2550
Context window10%2424
Overall100%50/10060/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

DeepSeek-V3 vs Mistral Small 3.2 specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek-V3DeepSeekMistral Small 3.2Mistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)132.3 (best)131.7
ECI rank#121 of 148 (best)#123 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions56.5% (best)49.1%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics15.8%30.3% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.32$0.10 (best)
Output$1.10$0.30 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.515$0.15 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 5 providersOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output8,192 tokens16,384 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenDeepSeek Model LicenseOpen
API model ID—mistral-small-2506
API providers56 (best)
ReleasedDec 26, 2024Jun 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$5.40
  • Mistral Small 3.2$1.60
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

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

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

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-V3 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 costs $0.32 input / $1.10 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 $0.515 for DeepSeek-V3 (3.4× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek-V3 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-V3 132.3 (#121 of 148) and Mistral Small 3.2 131.7 (#123 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (127.5–135.5 vs 126.6–133.9), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek-V3 56.5%, Mistral Small 3.2 49.1%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Mistral Small 3.2 30.3%, DeepSeek-V3 15.8%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek-V3 and Mistral Small 3.2 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek-V3 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 has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Mistral Small 3.2. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek-V3 up to 8,192, Mistral Small 3.2 up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek-V3 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 (DeepSeek Model License), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Mistral Small 3.2 is the newest, released Jun 20, 2025. DeepSeek-V3 came out Dec 26, 2024. 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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