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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct vs Mistral Small 3.2 24B vs Gemma 3 27B IT

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct comes out ahead, 72 to 65 and 62 on our weighted score, though Mistral Small 3.2 24B is 45% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Meta

    Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct

    Released Apr 5, 2025

    72/100
    • ECI129.6
    • Price$0.17 / $0.59
    • Context10M
    Full specs Remove Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct

  2. Mistral AI

    Mistral Small 3.2 24B

    Released Jun 20, 2025

    65/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.10 / $0.305
    • Context256K
    Full specs Remove Mistral Small 3.2 24B

  3. Google

    Gemma 3 27B IT

    Released Mar 12, 2025

    62/100
    • ECI129.9
    • Price$0.11 / $0.30
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Gemma 3 27B IT
01 — Verdict

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is our pick

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Mistral Small 3.2 24B (65) and Gemma 3 27B IT (62). It leads on 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 · Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct $0.275 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructLlama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 10,000,000 · Mistral Small 3.2 24B 256,000 · Gemma 3 27B IT 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsLlama 4 Scout 17B Instruct: Text, Images · Mistral Small 3.2 24B: Text, Images · Gemma 3 27B IT: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructMistral Small 3.2 24BGemma 3 27B IT
Price50%738584
Inputs & features30%505050
Context window20%1003625
Overall100%72/10065/10062/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct vs Mistral Small 3.2 24B vs Gemma 3 27B IT specifications side by side
SpecificationLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructMetaMistral Small 3.2 24BMistral AIGemma 3 27B ITGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)129.6—129.9 (best)
ECI rank#138 of 165—#137 of 165 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions51.8% (best)—47.7%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics7.8%—22.5% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.17$0.10 (best)$0.11
Output$0.59$0.305$0.30 (best)
Cached input———
Blended (3:1)$0.275$0.151 (best)$0.157
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 13 providersMedian of 8 providersMedian of 16 providers
Limits
Context window10,000,000 tokens (best)256,000 tokens131,072 tokens
Max output16,384 tokens16,384 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesYesYes
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoNoNo
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenOpen
API model ID———
API providers13817 (best)
ReleasedApr 5, 2025Jun 20, 2025Mar 12, 2025
Knowledge cutoffAug 2024Oct 31, 2023Aug 2024
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.

  • Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct$2.88
  • Mistral Small 3.2 24B$1.61
  • Gemma 3 27B IT$1.69
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct, Mistral Small 3.2 24B or Gemma 3 27B IT?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Mistral Small 3.2 24B (65) and Gemma 3 27B IT (62). It leads on 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, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct, Mistral Small 3.2 24B or Gemma 3 27B IT?

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); Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct costs $0.17 input / $0.59 output per million tokens (median across 13 API providers). 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 $0.275 for Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct (1.8× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct has an ECI of 129.6, Mistral Small 3.2 24B has not been scored yet and Gemma 3 27B IT has an ECI of 129.9.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct, Mistral Small 3.2 24B and Gemma 3 27B IT 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?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct has the largest context window at 10,000,000 tokens, against 256,000 for Mistral Small 3.2 24B and 131,072 for Gemma 3 27B IT. Maximum output per response: Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct up to 16,384, Mistral Small 3.2 24B up to 16,384, Gemma 3 27B IT up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct accepts text and images; Mistral Small 3.2 24B accepts text and images; Gemma 3 27B IT accepts text and images. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

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

Which is newer?

Mistral Small 3.2 24B is the newest, released Jun 20, 2025. Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct came out Apr 5, 2025; Gemma 3 27B IT came out Mar 12, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct Aug 2024, Mistral Small 3.2 24B Oct 31, 2023, Gemma 3 27B IT Aug 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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