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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B vs Mistral Small 4

Mistral Small 4 comes out ahead, 50 to 35 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. NVIDIA

    Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B

    Released Mar 24, 2026

    35/100
    • ECI—
    • Price—
    • Context256K
    Full specs Remove Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B
  2. Our pick

    Mistral AI

    Mistral Small 4

    Released Mar 16, 2026

    50/100
    • 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 50/100 against Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B (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 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B unpriced
  • Longest contextAbout the sameNemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B 256,000 · Mistral Small 4 256,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsMistral Small 4Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B: 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 Cascade 2 30B A3BMistral Small 4
Inputs & features60%3560
Context window40%3636
Overall100%35/10050/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. 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 Cascade 2 30B A3B vs Mistral Small 4 specifications side by side
SpecificationNemotron Cascade 2 30B A3BNVIDIAMistral Small 4Mistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input—$0.15
Output—$0.60
Cached input—$0.015
Blended (3:1)—$0.263
Long-context rate—Same rate
Price source—Official Mistral API
Limits
Context window256,000 tokens256,000 tokens
Max output32,768 tokens256,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYeshigh
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID—mistral-small-2603
API providers—16
ReleasedMar 24, 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 Cascade 2 30B A3B—
  • Mistral Small 4$2.70
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B or Mistral Small 4?

Mistral Small 4 is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B (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, Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B or Mistral Small 4?

Mistral Small 4 is cheaper at $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 $0.263 per million tokens for Mistral Small 4 versus . Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B has no published per-token price.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B 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 Cascade 2 30B A3B 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 Cascade 2 30B A3B and Mistral Small 4 share the same 256,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B up to 32,768, Mistral Small 4 up to 256,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B 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?

Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B is the newest, released 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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