Mistral Medium vs Qwen3-235B-A22B
Mistral Medium (2023) and Qwen3-235B-A22B (2025) are compact production models from MistralAI and Alibaba. Mistral Medium ships a 32K-token context window, while Qwen3-235B-A22B ships a 128K-token context window. On Google-Proof Q&A, Qwen3-235B-A22B leads by 27.2 pts. On pricing, Mistral Medium costs $0.4/1M input tokens versus $0.4/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Pick Qwen3-235B-A22B for reasoning; Mistral Medium is better when provider fit matters more.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Mistral Medium | Qwen3-235B-A22B |
|---|---|---|
| Decision fit | Coding, Classification, and JSON / Tool use | Coding, RAG, and Long context |
| Context window | 32K | 128K |
| Cheapest output | $2/1M tokens | $1.2/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 2 tracked | 4 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 2 rows | Google-Proof Q&A leader |
Decision tradeoffs
- Local decision data tags Mistral Medium for Coding, Classification, and JSON / Tool use.
- Qwen3-235B-A22B leads the largest shared benchmark signal on Google-Proof Q&A by 27.2 points.
- Qwen3-235B-A22B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Qwen3-235B-A22B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $1.2/1M tokens.
- Qwen3-235B-A22B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3-235B-A22B for Coding, RAG, and Long context.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output prices on this page.
Mistral Medium
$820
Cheapest tracked route: OpenRouter
Qwen3-235B-A22B
$620
Cheapest tracked route: AWS Bedrock
Estimated monthly gap: $200. Batch, cache, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3-235B-A22B is $0.8/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Medium is $0.8/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2023-12-11 | 2025-04-29 |
| Context window | 32K | 128K |
| Parameters | — | 235B |
| Architecture | decoder only | decoder only |
| License | Apache 2.0 | Apache 2.0 |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Mistral Medium | Qwen3-235B-A22B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.4/1M tokens | $0.4/1M tokens |
| Output price | $2/1M tokens | $1.2/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Mistral Medium | Qwen3-235B-A22B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Mistral Medium | Qwen3-235B-A22B |
|---|---|---|
| Google-Proof Q&A | 58.9 | 86.1 |
| HumanEval | 84.3 | 92.7 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, Google-Proof Q&A has Mistral Medium at 58.9 and Qwen3-235B-A22B at 86.1, with Qwen3-235B-A22B ahead by 27.2 points; HumanEval has Mistral Medium at 84.3 and Qwen3-235B-A22B at 92.7, with Qwen3-235B-A22B ahead by 8.4 points. The largest visible gap is 27.2 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 is close: both models cover structured outputs. That makes context budget, benchmark fit, and provider maturity more important than a simple checklist. If your application depends on one integration detail, verify it against the provider route you plan to use, not just the base model listing.
For cost, Mistral Medium lists $0.4/1M input and $2/1M output tokens, while Qwen3-235B-A22B lists $0.4/1M input and $1.2/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Qwen3-235B-A22B lower by about $0.24 per million blended tokens. Availability is 2 providers versus 4, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Mistral Medium when provider fit are central to the workload. Choose Qwen3-235B-A22B when long-context analysis, larger context windows, and broader provider choice 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 Qwen3-235B-A22B?
Qwen3-235B-A22B supports 128K 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. Use this as a quick comparison signal, then confirm the provider-specific limits before committing to production.
Which is cheaper, Mistral Medium or Qwen3-235B-A22B?
Mistral Medium is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Mistral Medium costs $0.4/1M input and $2/1M output tokens. Qwen3-235B-A22B costs $0.4/1M input and $1.2/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Mistral Medium or Qwen3-235B-A22B open source?
Mistral Medium is listed under Apache 2.0. Qwen3-235B-A22B 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 structured outputs, Mistral Medium or Qwen3-235B-A22B?
Both Mistral Medium and Qwen3-235B-A22B expose structured outputs. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface. Use this as a quick comparison signal, then confirm the provider-specific limits before committing to production.
Where can I run Mistral Medium and Qwen3-235B-A22B?
Mistral Medium is available on Mistral AI Studio and OpenRouter. Qwen3-235B-A22B is available on Fireworks AI, AWS Bedrock, OpenRouter, and Venice AI. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
When should I pick Mistral Medium over Qwen3-235B-A22B?
Pick Qwen3-235B-A22B for reasoning; Mistral Medium is better when provider fit matters more. If your workload also depends on provider fit, start with Mistral Medium; if it depends on long-context analysis, run the same evaluation with Qwen3-235B-A22B.
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Last reviewed: 2026-05-20. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.