Magistral Small 2506 vs Mistral Small 3
Magistral Small 2506 (2025) and Mistral Small 3 (2025) are frontier reasoning models from MistralAI. Magistral Small 2506 ships a 128k-token context window, while Mistral Small 3 ships a 33k-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
Magistral Small 2506 is safer overall; choose Mistral Small 3 when provider fit matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Magistral Small 2506 | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps | tool-calling agents and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Long context | Agents, Classification, and JSON / Tool use |
| Context window | 128k | 33k |
| Cheapest output | - | $0.30/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 1 tracked | 2 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Magistral Small 2506 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Magistral Small 2506 uniquely exposes Reasoning in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Magistral Small 2506 for Long context.
- Mistral Small 3 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Mistral Small 3 uniquely exposes JSON / Tool use and 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.
Magistral Small 2506
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Mistral Small 3
$155
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Together AI
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Magistral Small 2506 and Mistral Small 3; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning before moving production traffic.
- Mistral Small 3 adds JSON / Tool use and Structured outputs in local capability data.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Mistral Small 3 and Magistral Small 2506; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for JSON / Tool use and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- Magistral Small 2506 adds Reasoning in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-06-10 | 2025-01-01 |
| Context window | 128k | 33k |
| Parameters | 24B | 24B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Apache 2.0OSI-approved | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open source | Open source |
| Weights | Unknown | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-06 | 2023-10 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Magistral Small 2506 | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | - | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Output price | - | $0.30/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Magistral Small 2506 | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| JSON / Tool use | No | 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.
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.