ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B vs Mistral Small 4

Mistral Small 4 comes out ahead, 64 to 54 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. NVIDIA

    Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B

    Released Mar 11, 2026

    54/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.20 / $0.80
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B
  2. Our pick

    Mistral AI

    Mistral Small 4

    Released Mar 16, 2026

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

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Mistral Small 4 is our pick

Mistral Small 4 is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B (54). It leads 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 · Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B $0.35 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextNemotron 3 Super 120B A12BNemotron 3 Super 120B A12B 262,144 · Mistral Small 4 256,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsMistral Small 4Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B: Text · Mistral Small 4: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightNemotron 3 Super 120B A12BMistral Small 4
Price50%7277
Inputs & features30%3560
Context window20%3736
Overall100%54/10064/100

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.

Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B vs Mistral Small 4 specifications side by side
SpecificationNemotron 3 Super 120B A12BNVIDIAMistral Small 4Mistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.20$0.15 (best)
Output$0.80$0.60 (best)
Cached input—$0.015
Blended (3:1)$0.35$0.263 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Nvidia APIOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)256,000 tokens
Max output262,144 tokens (best)256,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYeshigh
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDnvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12bmistral-small-2603
API providers19 (best)16
ReleasedMar 11, 2026Mar 16, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—Jun 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.

  • Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B$3.60
  • Mistral Small 4$2.70
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B or Mistral Small 4?

Mistral Small 4 is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B (54). It leads 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, Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B or Mistral Small 4?

Mistral Small 4 is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B costs $0.20 input / $0.80 output per million tokens (official Nvidia API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.263 per million tokens for Mistral Small 4 versus $0.35 for Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B (1.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B has not been scored yet and Mistral Small 4 has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B and Mistral Small 4 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?

Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 256,000 for Mistral Small 4. Maximum output per response: Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B up to 262,144, Mistral Small 4 up to 256,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B accepts text; Mistral Small 4 accepts text and images. Mistral Small 4 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 4 is the newest, released Mar 16, 2026. Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B came out Mar 11, 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.

05 — Keep comparing

Related comparisons