Gemma 3 27B IT vs GPT-5.4 nano vs Mistral Small 3.2
GPT-5.4 nano comes out ahead, 68 to 60 and 60 on our weighted score, though Gemma 3 27B IT is 4.2× cheaper per token.
GoogleGemma 3 27B IT
60/100- ECI130.0
- Price$0.08 / $0.20
- Context131K
- Our pick
OpenAIGPT-5.4 nano
68/100- ECI145.8
- Price$0.20 / $1.25
- Context400K
Mistral AIMistral Small 3.2
60/100- ECI131.7
- Price$0.10 / $0.30
- Context128K
GPT-5.4 nano is our pick
GPT-5.4 nano is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Gemma 3 27B IT (60) and Mistral Small 3.2 (60). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Gemma 3 27B IT wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGPT-5.4 nanoCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.4 nano 145.8 · Mistral Small 3.2 131.7 · Gemma 3 27B IT 130.0
- Lowest priceGemma 3 27B ITGemma 3 27B IT $0.11 · Mistral Small 3.2 $0.15 · GPT-5.4 nano $0.463 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-5.4 nanoGPT-5.4 nano 400,000 · Gemma 3 27B IT 131,072 · Mistral Small 3.2 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsGemma 3 27B IT: Text, Images · GPT-5.4 nano: Text, Images · Mistral Small 3.2: Text, Images
- Self-hostingGemma 3 27B IT and Mistral Small 3.2Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Gemma 3 27B IT | GPT-5.4 nano | Mistral Small 3.2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 53 | 73 | 55 |
| Price | 25% | 95 | 66 | 89 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 50 | 70 | 50 |
| Context window | 10% | 24 | 44 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 60/100 | 68/100 | 60/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemma 3 27B ITGoogle | GPT-5.4 nanoOpenAI | Mistral Small 3.2Mistral AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 130.0 | 145.8 (best) | 131.7 |
| ECI rank | #125 of 148 | #75 of 148 (best) | #123 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 47.7% | 78.5% (best) | 49.1% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | — | 44.9% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 22.5% | 87.8% (best) | 30.3% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | — | 11.7% | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.08 (best) | $0.20 | $0.10 |
| Output | $0.20 (best) | $1.25 | $0.30 |
| Cached input | — | $0.02 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.11 (best) | $0.463 | $0.15 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 9 providers | Official OpenAI API | Official Mistral API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 400,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens | 16,384 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | gpt-5.4-nano | mistral-small-2506 |
| API providers | 10 | 26 (best) | 6 |
| Released | Mar 12, 2025 | Mar 17, 2026 | Jun 20, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Aug 2024 | Aug 31, 2025 | Mar 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemma 3 27B IT$1.20
- GPT-5.4 nano$4.50
- Mistral Small 3.2$1.60
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemma 3 27B IT, GPT-5.4 nano or Mistral Small 3.2?
GPT-5.4 nano is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Gemma 3 27B IT (60) and Mistral Small 3.2 (60). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Gemma 3 27B IT wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Gemma 3 27B IT, GPT-5.4 nano or Mistral Small 3.2?
Gemma 3 27B IT is cheaper at $0.08 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers). Mistral Small 3.2 costs $0.10 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price); GPT-5.4 nano costs $0.20 input / $1.25 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.11 per million tokens for Gemma 3 27B IT versus $0.15 for Mistral Small 3.2 (1.4× as much) and $0.463 for GPT-5.4 nano (4.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
GPT-5.4 nano scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.4 nano 145.8 (#75 of 148), Mistral Small 3.2 131.7 (#123 of 148) and Gemma 3 27B IT 130.0 (#125 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (143.2–147.7 vs 126.6–133.9), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-5.4 nano 78.5%, Mistral Small 3.2 49.1%, Gemma 3 27B IT 47.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-5.4 nano 87.8%, Mistral Small 3.2 30.3%, Gemma 3 27B IT 22.5%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemma 3 27B IT, GPT-5.4 nano and Mistral Small 3.2 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-5.4 nano 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?
GPT-5.4 nano has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 131,072 for Gemma 3 27B IT and 128,000 for Mistral Small 3.2. Maximum output per response: Gemma 3 27B IT up to 131,072, GPT-5.4 nano up to 128,000, Mistral Small 3.2 up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemma 3 27B IT accepts text and images; GPT-5.4 nano accepts text and images; Mistral Small 3.2 accepts text and images. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Gemma 3 27B IT and Mistral Small 3.2 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-5.4 nano is proprietary.
Which is newer?
GPT-5.4 nano is the newest, released Mar 17, 2026. Mistral Small 3.2 came out Jun 20, 2025; Gemma 3 27B IT came out Mar 12, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemma 3 27B IT Aug 2024, GPT-5.4 nano Aug 31, 2025, 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.
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