Hunyuan Hy3 Preview vs Mistral Small 3
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview (2026) and Mistral Small 3 (2025) are frontier reasoning models from Tencent AI Lab and MistralAI. Hunyuan Hy3 Preview ships a 262k-token context window, while Mistral Small 3 ships a 33k-token context window. On pricing, Hunyuan Hy3 Preview costs $0.07/1M input tokens versus $0.10/1M 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.
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is ~52% cheaper at $0.07/1M; pay for Mistral Small 3 only for provider fit.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Hunyuan Hy3 Preview | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production | tool-calling agents and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Agents, Classification, and JSON / Tool use |
| Context window | 262k | 33k |
| Cheapest output | $0.26/1M tokens | $0.30/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 2 tracked | 2 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Hunyuan Hy3 Preview has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Hunyuan Hy3 Preview has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.26/1M tokens.
- Hunyuan Hy3 Preview uniquely exposes Reasoning in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Hunyuan Hy3 Preview for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Mistral Small 3 uniquely exposes Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Small 3 for Agents, Classification, and JSON / Tool use.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview
$118
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Mistral Small 3
$155
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Together AI
Estimated monthly gap: $37.20. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Hunyuan Hy3 Preview and Mistral Small 3; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Mistral Small 3 is $0.04/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning before moving production traffic.
- Mistral Small 3 adds Structured outputs in local capability data.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Mistral Small 3 and Hunyuan Hy3 Preview; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is $0.04/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- Hunyuan Hy3 Preview adds Reasoning in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-04-22 | 2025-01-01 |
| Context window | 262k | 33k |
| Parameters | 295B | 24B |
| Architecture | Dense + MoE Hybrid | Decoder Only |
| License | Tencent Hunyuan Community License | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open weights | Open source |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | 2023-10 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Hunyuan Hy3 Preview | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.07/1M tokens | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.26/1M tokens | $0.30/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Hunyuan Hy3 Preview | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Function calling | Yes | Yes |
| Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | No | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on reasoning mode: Hunyuan Hy3 Preview and structured outputs: Mistral Small 3. Both models share function calling and tool use, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
For cost, Hunyuan Hy3 Preview lists $0.07/1M input and $0.26/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Mistral Small 3 lists $0.10/1M input and $0.30/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Hunyuan Hy3 Preview lower by about $0.04 per million blended tokens. Availability is 2 providers versus 2, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Hunyuan Hy3 Preview when reasoning depth, larger context windows, and lower input-token cost are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Small 3 when provider fit are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship. This keeps the decision grounded in measurable tradeoffs instead of brand-level assumptions. It also helps separate model capability from provider packaging, which can change cost and latency.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Hunyuan Hy3 Preview or Mistral Small 3?
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview supports 262k tokens, while Mistral Small 3 supports 33k tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Hunyuan Hy3 Preview or Mistral Small 3?
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Hunyuan Hy3 Preview costs $0.07/1M input and $0.26/1M output tokens. Mistral Small 3 costs $0.10/1M input and $0.30/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Hunyuan Hy3 Preview or Mistral Small 3 open source?
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is listed under Tencent Hunyuan Community License. Mistral Small 3 is listed under Apache 2.0. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for reasoning mode, Hunyuan Hy3 Preview or Mistral Small 3?
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview has the clearer documented reasoning mode signal in this comparison. If reasoning mode is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for function calling, Hunyuan Hy3 Preview or Mistral Small 3?
Both Hunyuan Hy3 Preview and Mistral Small 3 expose function calling. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Where can I run Hunyuan Hy3 Preview and Mistral Small 3?
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is available on OpenRouter and Tencent Cloud TI Platform. Mistral Small 3 is available on Together AI and Vercel AI Gateway. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-15. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.