LLM Reference

DeepSeek V3.1 vs Mistral Magistral Small 2509

DeepSeek V3.1 (2025) and Mistral Magistral Small 2509 (2025) are compact production models from DeepSeek and MistralAI. DeepSeek V3.1 ships a 64k-token context window, while Mistral Magistral Small 2509 ships a not-yet-sourced context window. On pricing, DeepSeek V3.1 costs $0.27/1M input tokens versus $0.50/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.

DeepSeek V3.1 is ~85% cheaper at $0.27/1M; pay for Mistral Magistral Small 2509 only for provider fit.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalDeepSeek V3.1Mistral Magistral Small 2509
Best formultimodal apps and provider-routed productionprovider-routed production
Decision fitCoding, Agents, and VisionGeneral
Context window64k
Cheapest output$1/1M tokens$1.50/1M tokens
Provider routes8 tracked2 tracked
Shared benchmarks0 shared0 shared

Decision tradeoffs

Choose DeepSeek V3.1 when...
  • DeepSeek V3.1 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
  • DeepSeek V3.1 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $1/1M tokens.
  • DeepSeek V3.1 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
  • DeepSeek V3.1 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags DeepSeek V3.1 for Coding, Agents, and Vision.
Choose Mistral Magistral Small 2509 when...
  • Use Mistral Magistral Small 2509 when your own prompt tests beat the comparison signals; the local data does not show a decisive standalone advantage yet.

Monthly cost at traffic

Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.

Lower estimate DeepSeek V3.1

DeepSeek V3.1

$466

Cheapest tracked route/tier: Novita AI

Mistral Magistral Small 2509

$775

Cheapest tracked route/tier: AWS Bedrock

Estimated monthly gap: $309. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

DeepSeek V3.1 -> Mistral Magistral Small 2509
  • Provider overlap exists on AWS Bedrock and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • Mistral Magistral Small 2509 is $0.50/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
  • Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
Mistral Magistral Small 2509 -> DeepSeek V3.1
  • Provider overlap exists on AWS Bedrock and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • DeepSeek V3.1 is $0.50/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
  • DeepSeek V3.1 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs in local capability data.

Specs

Specification
Released2025-08-212025-09-01
Context window64k
Parameters671B total, 37B active (MoE)24B
ArchitectureMixture of Experts-
LicenseMITOSI-approvedApache 2.0OSI-approved
OpennessOpen sourceOpen source
WeightsUnknownUnknown
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: permittedCommercial use: permitted
Knowledge cutoff--

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeDeepSeek V3.1Mistral Magistral Small 2509
Input price$0.27/1M tokens$0.50/1M tokens
Output price$1/1M tokens$1.50/1M tokens
Providers

Capabilities

CapabilityDeepSeek V3.1Mistral Magistral Small 2509
VisionYesNo
MultimodalYesNo
ReasoningNoNo
JSON / Tool useNoNo
Structured outputsYesNo
Code executionYesNo
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useNoNo
Parallel agentsNoNo

Benchmarks

No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.

Continue comparing

Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.