ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Mistral Small 3 vs Gemma 3 27B IT

Gemma 3 27B IT comes out ahead, 49 to 39 on our weighted score, though Mistral Small 3 is 2.7× cheaper per token.

  1. Mistral AI

    Mistral Small 3

    Released Jan 30, 2025

    39/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.05 / $0.08
    • Context33K
    Full specs Remove Mistral Small 3
  2. Our pick

    Google

    Gemma 3 27B IT

    Released Mar 12, 2025

    49/100
    • ECI129.9
    • Price$0.11 / $0.30
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Gemma 3 27B IT

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemma 3 27B IT is our pick

Gemma 3 27B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against Mistral Small 3 (39). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Mistral Small 3 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025), because Mistral Small 3 has no Capabilities Index score yet.

  • CapabilityGemma 3 27B ITShared benchmarks: Gemma 3 27B IT 35.1% · Mistral Small 3 27.0%
  • Lowest priceMistral Small 3Mistral Small 3 $0.058 · Gemma 3 27B IT $0.157 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemma 3 27B ITGemma 3 27B IT 131,072 · Mistral Small 3 32,768 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemma 3 27B ITMistral Small 3: Text · 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
MeasureWeightMistral Small 3Gemma 3 27B IT
CapabilityShared benchmarks50%2735
Price25%10084
Inputs & features15%050
Context window10%025
Overall100%39/10049/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Mistral Small 3 vs Gemma 3 27B IT specifications side by side
SpecificationMistral Small 3Mistral AIGemma 3 27B ITGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—129.9
ECI rank—#137 of 165
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions47.3%47.7% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics6.7%22.5% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.05 (best)$0.11
Output$0.08 (best)$0.30
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.058 (best)$0.157
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 6 providersMedian of 16 providers
Limits
Context window32,768 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Max output16,384 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingNoYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID——
API providers617 (best)
ReleasedJan 30, 2025Mar 12, 2025
Knowledge cutoffOct 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.

  • Mistral Small 3$0.66
  • Gemma 3 27B IT$1.69
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Mistral Small 3 or Gemma 3 27B IT?

Gemma 3 27B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against Mistral Small 3 (39). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Mistral Small 3 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025), because Mistral Small 3 has no Capabilities Index score yet.

Which is cheaper, Mistral Small 3 or Gemma 3 27B IT?

Mistral Small 3 is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.08 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers). Gemma 3 27B IT costs $0.11 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (median across 16 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.058 per million tokens for Mistral Small 3 versus $0.157 for Gemma 3 27B IT (2.7× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Not every model here has a Capabilities Index score, so we compare the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025): Gemma 3 27B IT 35.1% and Mistral Small 3 27.0%. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemma 3 27B IT 47.7%, Mistral Small 3 47.3%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemma 3 27B IT 22.5%, Mistral Small 3 6.7%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mistral Small 3 and Gemma 3 27B IT yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Gemma 3 27B IT leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Note that Mistral Small 3 does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemma 3 27B IT has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 32,768 for Mistral Small 3. Maximum output per response: Mistral Small 3 up to 16,384, Gemma 3 27B IT up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Mistral Small 3 accepts text; Gemma 3 27B IT accepts text and images. Gemma 3 27B IT 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?

Gemma 3 27B IT is the newest, released Mar 12, 2025. Mistral Small 3 came out Jan 30, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Small 3 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

Related comparisons