Mistral Small 4 vs Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B vs Hy3 preview
Mistral Small 4 comes out ahead, 50 to 35 and 35 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Mistral AIMistral Small 4
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.60
- Context256K
NVIDIANemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B
35/100- ECI—
- Price—
- Context256K
TencentHy3 preview
35/100- ECI—
- Price$0.176 / $0.586
- Context256K
Mistral Small 4 is our pick
Mistral Small 4 is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B (35) and Hy3 preview (35). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. 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 · Hy3 preview $0.279 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B unpriced
- Longest contextAbout the sameMistral Small 4 256,000 · Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B 256,000 · Hy3 preview 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsMistral Small 4Mistral Small 4: Text, Images · Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B: Text · Hy3 preview: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Mistral Small 4 | Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B | Hy3 preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs & features | 60% | 60 | 35 | 35 |
| Context window | 40% | 36 | 36 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 50/100 | 35/100 | 35/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Mistral Small 4Mistral AI | Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3BNVIDIA | Hy3 previewTencent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.15 (best) | — | $0.176 |
| Output | $0.60 | — | $0.586 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.015 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.263 (best) | — | $0.279 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | — | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Mistral API | — | Median of 4 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens | 256,000 tokens | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | 256,000 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens | 64,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeshigh | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Open | Open |
| API model ID | mistral-small-2603 | — | hy3-preview |
| API providers | 16 (best) | — | 5 |
| Released | Mar 16, 2026 | Mar 24, 2026 | Apr 20, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jun 2025 | — | — |
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
- Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B—
- Hy3 preview$2.93
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Mistral Small 4, Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B or Hy3 preview?
Mistral Small 4 is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B (35) and Hy3 preview (35). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Mistral Small 4, Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B or Hy3 preview?
Mistral Small 4 is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Hy3 preview costs $0.176 input / $0.586 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers; free on Tencent TokenHub). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.263 per million tokens for Mistral Small 4 versus $0.279 for Hy3 preview (1.1× as much). Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Mistral Small 4 has not been scored yet, Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B has not been scored yet and Hy3 preview has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mistral Small 4, Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B and Hy3 preview yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Mistral Small 4, Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B and Hy3 preview share the same 256,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: Mistral Small 4 up to 256,000, Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B up to 32,768, Hy3 preview up to 64,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Mistral Small 4 accepts text and images; Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B accepts text; Hy3 preview accepts text. Mistral Small 4 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights, so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Hy3 preview is the newest, released Apr 20, 2026. Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B came out Mar 24, 2026; Mistral Small 4 came out Mar 16, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Small 4 Jun 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 Oct 4, 2026.
