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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Gemma 3 4B IT vs Mistral Small 3.2

Mistral Small 3.2 comes out ahead, 60 to 53 on our weighted score, though Gemma 3 4B IT is 2.4× cheaper per token.

  1. Google

    Gemma 3 4B IT

    Released Mar 12, 2025

    53/100
    • ECI116.1
    • Price$0.05 / $0.10
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Gemma 3 4B IT
  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 Gemma 3 4B IT (53). It leads on capability. Gemma 3 4B IT wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityMistral Small 3.2Capabilities Index (ECI): Mistral Small 3.2 131.7 · Gemma 3 4B IT 116.1
  • Lowest priceGemma 3 4B ITGemma 3 4B IT $0.063 · Mistral Small 3.2 $0.15 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemma 3 4B ITGemma 3 4B IT 131,072 · Mistral Small 3.2 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsGemma 3 4B IT: Text, Images · 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
MeasureWeightGemma 3 4B ITMistral Small 3.2
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%3555
Price25%10089
Inputs & features15%5050
Context window10%2424
Overall100%53/10060/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Gemma 3 4B IT vs Mistral Small 3.2 specifications side by side
SpecificationGemma 3 4B ITGoogleMistral Small 3.2Mistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)116.1131.7 (best)
ECI rank#146 of 148#123 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions23.2%49.1% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics7.5%30.3% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.05 (best)$0.10
Output$0.10 (best)$0.30
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.063 (best)$0.15
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 7 providersOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens (best)16,384 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID—mistral-small-2506
API providers7 (best)6
ReleasedMar 12, 2025Jun 20, 2025
Knowledge cutoffAug 2024Mar 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.

  • Gemma 3 4B IT$0.70
  • Mistral Small 3.2$1.60
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemma 3 4B IT or Mistral Small 3.2?

Mistral Small 3.2 is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Gemma 3 4B IT (53). It leads on capability. Gemma 3 4B IT wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Gemma 3 4B IT or Mistral Small 3.2?

Gemma 3 4B IT is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.10 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers). Mistral Small 3.2 costs $0.10 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). 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 $0.15 for Mistral Small 3.2 (2.4× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Mistral Small 3.2 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Mistral Small 3.2 131.7 (#123 of 148) and Gemma 3 4B IT 116.1 (#146 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (126.6–133.9 vs 97.7–124.3), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Mistral Small 3.2 49.1%, Gemma 3 4B IT 23.2%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Mistral Small 3.2 30.3%, Gemma 3 4B IT 7.5%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemma 3 4B IT and Mistral Small 3.2 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Mistral Small 3.2 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?

Gemma 3 4B IT has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Mistral Small 3.2. Maximum output per response: Gemma 3 4B IT up to 131,072, Mistral Small 3.2 up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemma 3 4B IT 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?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Mistral Small 3.2 is the newest, released Jun 20, 2025. Gemma 3 4B IT came out Mar 12, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemma 3 4B IT Aug 2024, 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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