Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs Gemma 3 27B IT vs Mistral Small 3.2 24B
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 83 to 65 and 62 on our weighted score, though Mistral Small 3.2 24B is 14% cheaper per token.
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite
83/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.40
- Context1.05M
- Google
Gemma 3 27B IT
62/100- ECI129.9
- Price$0.11 / $0.30
- Context131K
Mistral AIMistral Small 3.2 24B
65/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.305
- Context256K
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is our pick
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 83/100 against Mistral Small 3.2 24B (65) and Gemma 3 27B IT (62). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceMistral Small 3.2 24BMistral Small 3.2 24B $0.151 · Gemma 3 27B IT $0.157 · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite $0.175 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 1,048,576 · Mistral Small 3.2 24B 256,000 · Gemma 3 27B IT 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Gemma 3 27B IT: Text, Images · Mistral Small 3.2 24B: Text, Images
- Self-hostingGemma 3 27B IT and Mistral Small 3.2 24BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite | Gemma 3 27B IT | Mistral Small 3.2 24B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 82 | 84 | 85 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 100 | 50 | 50 |
| Context window | 20% | 61 | 25 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 83/100 | 62/100 | 65/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGoogle | Gemma 3 27B ITGoogle | Mistral Small 3.2 24BMistral AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | 129.9 | — |
| ECI rank | — | #137 of 165 | — |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 47.7% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 22.5% | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.10 (best) | $0.11 | $0.10 (best) |
| Output | $0.40 | $0.30 (best) | $0.305 |
| Cached input | $0.01 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.175 | $0.157 | $0.151 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Google API | Median of 16 providers | Median of 8 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) | 16,384 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | No | No |
| Audio | Yes | No | No |
| Video | Yes | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Open |
| API model ID | gemini-2.5-flash-lite | — | — |
| API providers | 24 (best) | 17 | 8 |
| Released | Jun 17, 2025 | Mar 12, 2025 | Jun 20, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jan 2025 | Aug 2024 | Oct 31, 2023 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite$1.80
- Gemma 3 27B IT$1.69
- Mistral Small 3.2 24B$1.61
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite, Gemma 3 27B IT or Mistral Small 3.2 24B?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 83/100 against Mistral Small 3.2 24B (65) and Gemma 3 27B IT (62). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite, Gemma 3 27B IT or Mistral Small 3.2 24B?
Mistral Small 3.2 24B is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.305 output per million tokens (median across 8 API providers). Gemma 3 27B IT costs $0.11 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (median across 16 API providers); Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite costs $0.10 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official Google API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.151 per million tokens for Mistral Small 3.2 24B versus $0.157 for Gemma 3 27B IT (1× as much) and $0.175 for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite (1.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has not been scored yet, Gemma 3 27B IT has an ECI of 129.9 and Mistral Small 3.2 24B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite, Gemma 3 27B IT and Mistral Small 3.2 24B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 256,000 for Mistral Small 3.2 24B and 131,072 for Gemma 3 27B IT. Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite up to 65,536, Gemma 3 27B IT up to 131,072, Mistral Small 3.2 24B up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Gemma 3 27B IT accepts text and images; Mistral Small 3.2 24B accepts text and images. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Gemma 3 27B IT and Mistral Small 3.2 24B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Mistral Small 3.2 24B is the newest, released Jun 20, 2025. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite came out Jun 17, 2025; Gemma 3 27B IT came out Mar 12, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Jan 2025, Gemma 3 27B IT Aug 2024, Mistral Small 3.2 24B Oct 31, 2023.
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 Nov 2, 2026.
