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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Mistral Small 4 vs Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct comes out ahead, 71 to 64 on our weighted score, though Mistral Small 4 is 23% cheaper per token.

  1. Mistral AI

    Mistral Small 4

    Released Mar 16, 2026

    64/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.60
    • Context256K
    Full specs Remove Mistral Small 4
  2. Our pick

    Meta

    Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct

    Released Apr 5, 2025

    71/100
    • ECI129.7
    • Price$0.225 / $0.69
    • Context10M
    Full specs Remove Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is our pick

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Mistral Small 4 (64). It leads on context window. Mistral Small 4 wins on price and inputs & features. 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 4Mistral Small 4 $0.263 · Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct $0.341 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructLlama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 10,000,000 · Mistral Small 4 256,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsMistral Small 4: Text, Images · Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightMistral Small 4Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct
Price50%7772
Inputs & features30%6050
Context window20%36100
Overall100%64/10071/100

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.

Mistral Small 4 vs Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct specifications side by side
SpecificationMistral Small 4Mistral AILlama 4 Scout 17B InstructMeta
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—129.7
ECI rank—#126 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—51.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—7.8%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.15 (best)$0.225
Output$0.60 (best)$0.69
Cached input$0.015—
Blended (3:1)$0.263 (best)$0.341
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Mistral APIMedian of 4 providers
Limits
Context window256,000 tokens10,000,000 tokens (best)
Max output256,000 tokens (best)16,384 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYeshighNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDmistral-small-2603—
API providers16 (best)4
ReleasedMar 16, 2026Apr 5, 2025
Knowledge cutoffJun 2025Aug 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 4$2.70
  • Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct$3.63
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Mistral Small 4 or Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Mistral Small 4 (64). It leads on context window. Mistral Small 4 wins on price and inputs & features. 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, Mistral Small 4 or Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct?

Mistral Small 4 is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct costs $0.225 input / $0.69 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.263 per million tokens for Mistral Small 4 versus $0.341 for Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct (1.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Mistral Small 4 has not been scored yet and Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct has an ECI of 129.7.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mistral Small 4 and Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both 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 4. Maximum output per response: Mistral Small 4 up to 256,000, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Mistral Small 4 accepts text and images; Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct accepts text and images. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

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

Which is newer?

Mistral Small 4 is the newest, released Mar 16, 2026. Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct came out Apr 5, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Small 4 Jun 2025, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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