Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Mistral Large 4 vs Muse Spark 1.1
Gemini 3.6 Flash comes out ahead, 72 to 69 and 67 on our weighted score, though Mistral Large 4 is 30% cheaper per token.
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 3.6 Flash
72/100- ECI154.7
- Price$0.75 / $3.75
- Context1.05M
Mistral AIMistral Large 4
67/100- ECI150.6
- Price$0.70 / $2.10
- Context1.05M
MetaMuse Spark 1.1
69/100- ECI154.2
- Price$1.25 / $4.25
- Context1.05M
Gemini 3.6 Flash is our pick
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Muse Spark 1.1 (69) and Mistral Large 4 (67). It leads on inputs & features. Mistral Large 4 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGemini 3.6 FlashCapabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 3.6 Flash 154.7 · Muse Spark 1.1 154.2 · Mistral Large 4 150.6
- Lowest priceMistral Large 4Mistral Large 4 $1.05 · Gemini 3.6 Flash $1.50 · Muse Spark 1.1 $2.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameGemini 3.6 Flash 1,048,576 · Mistral Large 4 1,048,576 · Muse Spark 1.1 1,048,576 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Mistral Large 4: Text, Images · Muse Spark 1.1: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Mistral Large 4 | Muse Spark 1.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 82 | 77 | 82 |
| Price | 25% | 40 | 47 | 34 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 100 | 70 | 90 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 61 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 72/100 | 67/100 | 69/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemini 3.6 FlashGoogle | Mistral Large 4Mistral AI | Muse Spark 1.1Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 154.7 (best) | 150.6 | 154.2 |
| ECI rank | #42 of 165 (best) | #57 of 165 | #46 of 165 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 94.1% (best) | 88.1% | — |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 59.0% (best) | 58.6% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 94.2% | 98.3% (best) | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 66.2% (best) | 20.0% | 57.8% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.75 | $0.70 (best) | $1.25 |
| Output | $3.75 | $2.10 (best) | $4.25 |
| Cached input | $0.075 | $0.07 (best) | $0.15 |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.50 | $1.05 (best) | $2.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Google API | Official Mistral API | Official Meta API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | No | Yes |
| Audio | Yes | No | No |
| Video | Yes | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yesminimal · low · medium · high | Yeslow · medium · high | Yesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gemini-3.6-flash | mistral-large-4 | muse-spark-1.1 |
| API providers | 31 (best) | 15 | 15 |
| Released | Jul 21, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 | Jul 9, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Mar 2026 | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemini 3.6 Flash$15.00
- Mistral Large 4$11.20
- Muse Spark 1.1$21.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemini 3.6 Flash, Mistral Large 4 or Muse Spark 1.1?
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Muse Spark 1.1 (69) and Mistral Large 4 (67). It leads on inputs & features. Mistral Large 4 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Mistral Large 4 or Muse Spark 1.1?
Mistral Large 4 is cheaper at $0.70 input / $2.10 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $0.75 input / $3.75 output per million tokens (official Google API price); Muse Spark 1.1 costs $1.25 input / $4.25 output per million tokens (official Meta API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.05 per million tokens for Mistral Large 4 versus $1.50 for Gemini 3.6 Flash (1.4× as much) and $2.00 for Muse Spark 1.1 (1.9× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Gemini 3.6 Flash scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 3.6 Flash 154.7 (#42 of 165), Muse Spark 1.1 154.2 (#46 of 165) and Mistral Large 4 150.6 (#57 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (153.0–156.7 vs 151.3–156.4), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: SimpleQA Verified — Gemini 3.6 Flash 66.2%, Muse Spark 1.1 57.8%, Mistral Large 4 20.0%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 3.6 Flash, Mistral Large 4 and Muse Spark 1.1 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Gemini 3.6 Flash leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 3.6 Flash, Mistral Large 4 and Muse Spark 1.1 share the same 1,048,576-token context window. Maximum output per response: Gemini 3.6 Flash up to 65,536, Mistral Large 4 up to 262,144, Muse Spark 1.1 up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemini 3.6 Flash accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Mistral Large 4 accepts text and images; Muse Spark 1.1 accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Gemini 3.6 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Gemini 3.6 Flash, Mistral Large 4 and Muse Spark 1.1 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Mistral Large 4 is the newest, released Oct 6, 2026. Gemini 3.6 Flash came out Jul 21, 2026; Muse Spark 1.1 came out Jul 9, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 3.6 Flash Mar 2026.
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.
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