ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Mistral Small 3.1 24B vs Mistral Large 2.1

Mistral Small 3.1 24B comes out ahead, 55 to 38 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Mistral AI

    Mistral Small 3.1 24B

    Released Mar 17, 2025

    55/100
    • ECI127.5
    • Price$0.229 / $0.436
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Mistral Small 3.1 24B

  2. Mistral AI

    Mistral Large 2.1

    Released Nov 18, 2024

    38/100
    • ECI128.5
    • Price$2.00 / $6.00
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Mistral Large 2.1

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Mistral Small 3.1 24B is our pick

Mistral Small 3.1 24B is the better all-round choice, scoring 55/100 against Mistral Large 2.1 (38). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityMistral Large 2.1Capabilities Index (ECI): Mistral Large 2.1 128.5 · Mistral Small 3.1 24B 127.5
  • Lowest priceMistral Small 3.1 24BMistral Small 3.1 24B $0.281 · Mistral Large 2.1 $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextMistral Large 2.1Mistral Large 2.1 131,072 · Mistral Small 3.1 24B 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsMistral Small 3.1 24BMistral Small 3.1 24B: Text, Images · Mistral Large 2.1: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightMistral Small 3.1 24BMistral Large 2.1
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%5051
Price25%7627
Inputs & features15%6025
Context window10%2424
Overall100%55/10038/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Mistral Small 3.1 24B vs Mistral Large 2.1 specifications side by side
SpecificationMistral Small 3.1 24BMistral AIMistral Large 2.1Mistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)127.5128.5 (best)
ECI rank#132 of 148#130 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions47.5%51.3% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics5.8%7.8% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.229 (best)$2.00
Output$0.436 (best)$6.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.281 (best)$3.00
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 2 providersOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Max output16,384 tokens16,384 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID—mistral-large-2411
API providers22
ReleasedMar 17, 2025Nov 18, 2024
Knowledge cutoffJun 2024Nov 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.

  • Mistral Small 3.1 24B$3.16
  • Mistral Large 2.1$32.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Mistral Small 3.1 24B or Mistral Large 2.1?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B is the better all-round choice, scoring 55/100 against Mistral Large 2.1 (38). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Mistral Small 3.1 24B or Mistral Large 2.1?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B is cheaper at $0.229 input / $0.436 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). Mistral Large 2.1 costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.281 per million tokens for Mistral Small 3.1 24B versus $3.00 for Mistral Large 2.1 (11× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Mistral Large 2.1 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Mistral Large 2.1 128.5 (#130 of 148) and Mistral Small 3.1 24B 127.5 (#132 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (123.8–130.8 vs 122.6–129.4), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Mistral Large 2.1 51.3%, Mistral Small 3.1 24B 47.5%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Mistral Large 2.1 7.8%, Mistral Small 3.1 24B 5.8%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mistral Small 3.1 24B 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. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Mistral Large 2.1 has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Mistral Small 3.1 24B. Maximum output per response: Mistral Small 3.1 24B up to 16,384, Mistral Large 2.1 up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B accepts text and images; Mistral Large 2.1 accepts text. Mistral Small 3.1 24B handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

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

Which is newer?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B is the newest, released Mar 17, 2025. Mistral Large 2.1 came out Nov 18, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Small 3.1 24B Jun 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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