Mistral Medium vs Mistral Small 4
Mistral Medium (2023) and Mistral Small 4 (2026) are compact production models from MistralAI. Mistral Medium ships a 32K-token context window, while Mistral Small 4 ships a 256K-token context window. On Google-Proof Q&A, Mistral Small 4 leads by 18.0 pts. On pricing, Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15/1M input tokens versus $0.40/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Mistral Small 4 is ~167% cheaper at $0.15/1M; pay for Mistral Medium only for provider fit.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Mistral Medium | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | provider-routed production | multimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, Classification, and JSON / Tool use | RAG, Agents, and Long context |
| Context window | 32K | 256K |
| Cheapest output | $2/1M tokens | $0.60/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 2 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 1 rows | Google-Proof Q&A leader |
Decision tradeoffs
- Mistral Medium uniquely exposes Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Medium for Coding, Classification, and JSON / Tool use.
- Mistral Small 4 leads the largest shared benchmark signal on Google-Proof Q&A by 18.0 points.
- Mistral Small 4 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Mistral Small 4 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.60/1M tokens.
- Mistral Small 4 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Mistral Small 4 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Function calling in local model data.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Mistral Medium
$820
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Mistral Small 4
$270
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $550. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Mistral AI Studio; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Small 4 is $1.40/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- Mistral Small 4 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Function calling in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on Mistral AI Studio and OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Medium is $1.40/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Function calling before moving production traffic.
- Mistral Medium adds Structured outputs in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2023-12-11 | 2026-03-16 |
| Context window | 32K | 256K |
| Parameters | — | 119B (6.5B active) |
| Architecture | decoder only | moe |
| License | Apache 2.0 | Apache 2.0 |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | 2025-06 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Mistral Medium | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.40/1M tokens | $0.15/1M tokens |
| Output price | $2/1M tokens | $0.60/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Mistral Medium | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | Yes |
| Tool use | No | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | No |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Mistral Medium | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Google-Proof Q&A | 58.9 | 76.9 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, Google-Proof Q&A has Mistral Medium at 58.9 and Mistral Small 4 at 76.9, with Mistral Small 4 ahead by 18.0 points. The largest visible gap is 18.0 points on Google-Proof Q&A, which matters most when that benchmark mirrors your workload. Treat isolated benchmark wins as directional, because provider routing, prompt style, and tool access can move real application results.
The capability footprint differs most on vision: Mistral Small 4, multimodal input: Mistral Small 4, function calling: Mistral Small 4, tool use: Mistral Small 4, and structured outputs: Mistral Medium. Both models share the core language-model surface, 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, Mistral Medium lists $0.40/1M input and $2/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Mistral Small 4 lists $0.15/1M input and $0.60/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Mistral Small 4 lower by about $0.59 per million blended tokens. Availability is 2 providers versus 3, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Mistral Medium when provider fit are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Small 4 when long-context analysis, larger context windows, and lower input-token cost are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Mistral Medium or Mistral Small 4?
Mistral Small 4 supports 256K tokens, while Mistral Medium supports 32K tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Mistral Medium or Mistral Small 4?
Mistral Small 4 is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Mistral Medium costs $0.40/1M input and $2/1M output tokens. Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15/1M input and $0.60/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Mistral Medium or Mistral Small 4 open source?
Mistral Medium is listed under Apache 2.0. Mistral Small 4 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 vision, Mistral Medium or Mistral Small 4?
Mistral Small 4 has the clearer documented vision signal in this comparison. If vision is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for multimodal input, Mistral Medium or Mistral Small 4?
Mistral Small 4 has the clearer documented multimodal input signal in this comparison. If multimodal input is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Mistral Medium and Mistral Small 4?
Mistral Medium is available on Mistral AI Studio and OpenRouter. Mistral Small 4 is available on OpenRouter, NVIDIA NIM, and Mistral AI Studio. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-05-14. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.