Gemma 3 4B IT vs Claude Haiku 3.5 vs Mistral Large 2.1
Gemma 3 4B IT comes out ahead, 52 to 46 and 38 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
GoogleGemma 3 4B IT
52/100- ECI115.8
- Price$0.05 / $0.10
- Context131K
AnthropicClaude Haiku 3.5
46/100- ECI127.0
- Price$0.80 / $4.00
- Context200K
Mistral AIMistral Large 2.1
38/100- ECI128.6
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context131K
Gemma 3 4B IT is our pick
Gemma 3 4B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against Claude Haiku 3.5 (46) and Mistral Large 2.1 (38). It leads on price. Claude Haiku 3.5 wins on inputs & features and context window. Mistral Large 2.1 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityMistral Large 2.1Capabilities Index (ECI): Mistral Large 2.1 128.6 · Claude Haiku 3.5 127.0 · Gemma 3 4B IT 115.8
- Lowest priceGemma 3 4B ITGemma 3 4B IT $0.063 · Claude Haiku 3.5 $1.60 · Mistral Large 2.1 $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextClaude Haiku 3.5Claude Haiku 3.5 200,000 · Gemma 3 4B IT 131,072 · Mistral Large 2.1 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsClaude Haiku 3.5Gemma 3 4B IT: Text, Images · Claude Haiku 3.5: Text, Images, PDFs · Mistral Large 2.1: Text
- Self-hostingGemma 3 4B IT and Mistral Large 2.1Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Gemma 3 4B IT | Claude Haiku 3.5 | Mistral Large 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 34 | 48 | 50 |
| Price | 25% | 100 | 38 | 26 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 50 | 60 | 25 |
| Context window | 10% | 25 | 32 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 52/100 | 46/100 | 38/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemma 3 4B ITGoogle | Claude Haiku 3.5Anthropic | Mistral Large 2.1Mistral AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 115.8 | 127.0 | 128.6 (best) |
| ECI rank | #163 of 165 | #147 of 165 | #142 of 165 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 23.2% | 38.1% | 51.3% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 7.5% | 4.3% | 7.8% (best) |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.05 (best) | $0.80 | $2.00 |
| Output | $0.10 (best) | $4.00 | $6.00 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.063 (best) | $1.60 | $3.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 9 providers | Median of 3 providers | Median of 2 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 200,000 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens | 16,384 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | Yes | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | — | — |
| API providers | 10 (best) | 4 | 2 |
| Released | Mar 12, 2025 | Oct 22, 2024 | Nov 18, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Aug 2024 | Jul 31, 2024 | Nov 2024 |
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 4B IT$0.70
- Claude Haiku 3.5$16.00
- Mistral Large 2.1$32.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemma 3 4B IT, Claude Haiku 3.5 or Mistral Large 2.1?
Gemma 3 4B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against Claude Haiku 3.5 (46) and Mistral Large 2.1 (38). It leads on price. Claude Haiku 3.5 wins on inputs & features and context window. Mistral Large 2.1 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Gemma 3 4B IT, Claude Haiku 3.5 or Mistral Large 2.1?
Gemma 3 4B IT is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.10 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers). Claude Haiku 3.5 costs $0.80 input / $4.00 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers); Mistral Large 2.1 costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.063 per million tokens for Gemma 3 4B IT versus $1.60 for Claude Haiku 3.5 (26× as much) and $3.00 for Mistral Large 2.1 (48× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Mistral Large 2.1 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Mistral Large 2.1 128.6 (#142 of 165), Claude Haiku 3.5 127.0 (#147 of 165) and Gemma 3 4B IT 115.8 (#163 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (124.3–130.7 vs 121.4–129.2), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Mistral Large 2.1 51.3%, Claude Haiku 3.5 38.1%, Gemma 3 4B IT 23.2%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Mistral Large 2.1 7.8%, Gemma 3 4B IT 7.5%, Claude Haiku 3.5 4.3%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemma 3 4B IT, Claude Haiku 3.5 and Mistral Large 2.1 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Mistral Large 2.1 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?
Claude Haiku 3.5 has the largest context window at 200,000 tokens, against 131,072 for Gemma 3 4B IT and 131,072 for Mistral Large 2.1. Maximum output per response: Gemma 3 4B IT up to 131,072, Claude Haiku 3.5 up to 8,192, Mistral Large 2.1 up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemma 3 4B IT accepts text and images; Claude Haiku 3.5 accepts text, images and PDFs; Mistral Large 2.1 accepts text. Claude Haiku 3.5 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Gemma 3 4B IT and Mistral Large 2.1 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Claude Haiku 3.5 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Gemma 3 4B IT is the newest, released Mar 12, 2025. Mistral Large 2.1 came out Nov 18, 2024; Claude Haiku 3.5 came out Oct 22, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Gemma 3 4B IT Aug 2024, Claude Haiku 3.5 Jul 31, 2024, Mistral Large 2.1 Nov 2024.
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.
