Model comparison
Mistral Small 3 vs Mistral Small (24.09)
- Input
- $0.10 / 1M tokens
- Output
- $0.30 / 1M tokens
- Context
- 32k tokens
- Released
- 2025-01-30
- Input
- $0.20 / 1M tokens
- Output
- $0.60 / 1M tokens
- Context
- 32k tokens
- Released
- 2024-09-17
Mistral Small 3 scores higher on 1 of the 1 benchmarks both models report; Mistral Small 3 is cheaper on input tokens ($0.1 vs $0.2 per 1M, 2×).
Specs and pricing side by side
| Spec | Mistral Small 3 | Mistral Small (24.09) |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Mistral AI | Mistral AIsame |
| Released | 2025-01-30 | 2024-09-17 |
| Context window | 32k tokens | 32k tokenssame |
| Max output | Not separately published by Mistral; bounded… | Not separately published; bounded by the 32k… |
| Input price | $0.10 / 1M tokens | $0.20 / 1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.30 / 1M tokens | $0.60 / 1M tokens |
| Parameters | 24B | 22B (dense) |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Mistral Research License (MRL) — non-commercial / research use; a separate commercial license is required for production use |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weightssame |
| Modalities | Text | text |
| Knowledge cutoff | October 2023 | Not published by Mistral AI |
Benchmarks both models report
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Mistral Small (24.09) |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 66.3% | 48.4% |
Scores are as published by each maker or its cited source; harness, reasoning effort and date can differ between rows, so treat small gaps as ties. Sources are listed on each model page.
Which one should you pick?
Pick Mistral Small 3 if…
- You care about MMLU Pro (it scores higher on 1 shared benchmark).
- Cost matters: input tokens cost 2× less ($0.1 vs $0.2 per 1M).
- You need Text input, which Mistral Small (24.09) lacks.
- Your use case is: fast-response conversational assistants and chatbots.
Pick Mistral Small (24.09) if…
- You need text input, which Mistral Small 3 lacks.
- Your use case is: high-volume translation and multilingual text processing.
FAQ
Which is better, Mistral Small 3 or Mistral Small (24.09)?
Mistral Small 3 scores higher on 1 of the 1 benchmarks both models report; Mistral Small 3 is cheaper on input tokens ($0.1 vs $0.2 per 1M, 2×). The better pick depends on whether you value benchmark scores, price per token, context length or openness for your workload.
How much cheaper is Mistral Small 3?
Mistral Small 3: $0.10 / 1M tokens input, $0.30 / 1M tokens output. Mistral Small (24.09): $0.20 / 1M tokens input, $0.60 / 1M tokens output (list API prices as published by each maker).
What are the context windows of Mistral Small 3 and Mistral Small (24.09)?
Mistral Small 3 offers 32k tokens with up to Not separately published by Mistral; bounded by the 32k context window output; Mistral Small (24.09) offers 32k tokens with up to Not separately published; bounded by the 32k token context window output.
Is Mistral Small 3 newer than Mistral Small (24.09)?
Mistral Small 3 was released 2025-01-30; Mistral Small (24.09) was released 2024-09-17.