Mistral Small 4 vs Solar Pro 3
Mistral Small 4 comes out ahead, 64 to 55 on our weighted score.
- Our pick
Mistral AIMistral Small 4
64/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.60
- Context256K
Upstage
Solar Pro 3
55/100- ECI—
- Price$0.25 / $0.25
- Context131K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Mistral Small 4 is our pick
Mistral Small 4 is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against Solar Pro 3 (55). It leads on inputs & features and context window. 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 priceSolar Pro 3Solar Pro 3 $0.25 · Mistral Small 4 $0.263 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextMistral Small 4Mistral Small 4 256,000 · Solar Pro 3 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsMistral Small 4Mistral Small 4: Text, Images · Solar Pro 3: Text
- Self-hostingMistral Small 4Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Mistral Small 4 | Solar Pro 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 77 | 78 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 64/100 | 55/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. 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 | Solar Pro 3Upstage |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.15 (best) | $0.25 |
| Output | $0.60 | $0.25 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.015 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.263 | $0.25 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Mistral API | Official Upstage API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 256,000 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeshigh | Yeslow · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | mistral-small-2603 | solar-pro3 |
| API providers | 16 (best) | 2 |
| Released | Mar 16, 2026 | Jan 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jun 2025 | Mar 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
- Solar Pro 3$3.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Mistral Small 4 or Solar Pro 3?
Mistral Small 4 is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against Solar Pro 3 (55). It leads on inputs & features and context window. 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 Solar Pro 3?
Solar Pro 3 is cheaper at $0.25 input / $0.25 output per million tokens (official Upstage API price). Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.25 per million tokens for Solar Pro 3 versus $0.263 for Mistral Small 4 (1.1× 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 Solar Pro 3 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mistral Small 4 and Solar Pro 3 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?
Mistral Small 4 has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 131,072 for Solar Pro 3. Maximum output per response: Mistral Small 4 up to 256,000, Solar Pro 3 up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Mistral Small 4 accepts text and images; Solar Pro 3 accepts text. Mistral Small 4 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Mistral Small 4 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Solar Pro 3 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Mistral Small 4 is the newest, released Mar 16, 2026. Solar Pro 3 came out Jan 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Small 4 Jun 2025, Solar Pro 3 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 Oct 4, 2026.
