ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Mistral Small 3 vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B

Too close to call on our weighted score (Mistral Small 3.1 24B 40, Mistral Small 3 39). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. Mistral AI

    Mistral Small 3

    Released Jan 30, 2025

    39/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.05 / $0.08
    • Context33K
  2. Mistral AI

    Mistral Small 3.1 24B

    Released Mar 17, 2025

    40/100
    • ECI127.5
    • Price$0.351 / $0.555
    • Context128K
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01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Mistral Small 3.1 24B 40/100, Mistral Small 3 39/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Mistral Small 3 for raw capability and Mistral Small 3.1 24B for long inputs. 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.

  • CapabilityMistral Small 3Shared benchmarks: Mistral Small 3 27.0% · Mistral Small 3.1 24B 26.7%
  • Lowest priceMistral Small 3Mistral Small 3 $0.058 · Mistral Small 3.1 24B $0.402 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextMistral Small 3.1 24BMistral Small 3.1 24B 128,000 · Mistral Small 3 32,768 tokens
  • Widest inputsMistral Small 3.1 24BMistral Small 3: Text · Mistral Small 3.1 24B: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightMistral Small 3Mistral Small 3.1 24B
CapabilityShared benchmarks50%2727
Price25%10066
Inputs & features15%050
Context window10%024
Overall100%39/10040/100
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 Mistral Small 3.1 24B specifications side by side
SpecificationMistral Small 3Mistral AIMistral Small 3.1 24BMistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—127.5
ECI rank—#145 of 165
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions47.3%47.5% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics6.7% (best)5.8%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.05 (best)$0.351
Output$0.08 (best)$0.555
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.058 (best)$0.402
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 6 providersMedian of 9 providers
Limits
Context window32,768 tokens128,000 tokens (best)
Max output16,384 tokens16,384 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingNoYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID——
API providers69 (best)
ReleasedJan 30, 2025Mar 17, 2025
Knowledge cutoffOct 31, 2023Jun 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
  • Mistral Small 3.1 24B$4.62
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Mistral Small 3 or Mistral Small 3.1 24B?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Mistral Small 3.1 24B 40/100, Mistral Small 3 39/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Mistral Small 3 for raw capability and Mistral Small 3.1 24B for long inputs. 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 Mistral Small 3.1 24B?

Mistral Small 3 is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.08 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers). Mistral Small 3.1 24B costs $0.351 input / $0.555 output per million tokens (median across 9 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 $0.402 for Mistral Small 3.1 24B (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): Mistral Small 3 27.0% and Mistral Small 3.1 24B 26.7%. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Mistral Small 3.1 24B 47.5%, Mistral Small 3 47.3%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Mistral Small 3 6.7%, Mistral Small 3.1 24B 5.8%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mistral Small 3 and Mistral Small 3.1 24B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Mistral Small 3 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?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 32,768 for Mistral Small 3. Maximum output per response: Mistral Small 3 up to 16,384, Mistral Small 3.1 24B up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Mistral Small 3 accepts text; Mistral Small 3.1 24B accepts text and images. 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 Small 3 came out Jan 30, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Small 3 Oct 31, 2023, Mistral Small 3.1 24B Jun 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.