ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Mistral Small 3 vs Mistral Small 3.2

Mistral Small 3.2 comes out ahead, 51 to 39 on our weighted score, though Mistral Small 3 is 2.6× 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

    Mistral AI

    Mistral Small 3.2

    Released Jun 20, 2025Deprecated

    51/100
    • ECI—
    • 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 51/100 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 and Mistral Small 3.2 has no Capabilities Index score yet.

  • CapabilityMistral Small 3.2Shared benchmarks: Mistral Small 3.2 39.7% · Mistral Small 3 27.0%
  • Lowest priceMistral Small 3Mistral Small 3 $0.058 · Mistral Small 3.2 $0.15 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextMistral Small 3.2Mistral Small 3.2 128,000 · Mistral Small 3 32,768 tokens
  • Widest inputsMistral Small 3.2Mistral Small 3: Text · 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
MeasureWeightMistral Small 3Mistral Small 3.2
CapabilityShared benchmarks50%2740
Price25%10085
Inputs & features15%050
Context window10%024
Overall100%39/10051/100
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 3.2 specifications side by side
SpecificationMistral Small 3Mistral AIMistral Small 3.2Mistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions47.3%49.1% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics6.7%30.3% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.05 (best)$0.10
Output$0.08 (best)$0.30
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.058 (best)$0.15
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 6 providersOfficial Mistral API
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—mistral-small-2506
API providers67 (best)
ReleasedJan 30, 2025Jun 20, 2025
Knowledge cutoffOct 31, 2023Mar 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.

  • Mistral Small 3$0.66
  • Mistral Small 3.2$1.60
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Mistral Small 3 or Mistral Small 3.2?

Mistral Small 3.2 is the better all-round choice, scoring 51/100 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 and Mistral Small 3.2 has no Capabilities Index score yet.

Which is cheaper, Mistral Small 3 or Mistral Small 3.2?

Mistral Small 3 is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.08 output per million tokens (median across 6 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 $0.058 per million tokens for Mistral Small 3 versus $0.15 for Mistral Small 3.2 (2.6× 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 3.2 39.7% and Mistral Small 3 27.0%. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Mistral Small 3.2 49.1%, Mistral Small 3 47.3%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Mistral Small 3.2 30.3%, Mistral Small 3 6.7%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mistral Small 3 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. Note that Mistral Small 3 does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Mistral Small 3.2 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 3.2 up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Mistral Small 3 accepts text; Mistral Small 3.2 accepts text and images. Mistral Small 3.2 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 3.2 is the newest, released Jun 20, 2025. Mistral Small 3 came out Jan 30, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Small 3 Oct 31, 2023, 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 Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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