Mistral Medium 3.5 vs ShieldGemma 9B
Mistral Medium 3.5 (2026) and ShieldGemma 9B (2024) are frontier reasoning models from MistralAI and Google DeepMind. Mistral Medium 3.5 ships a 256K-token context window, while ShieldGemma 9B ships a 8K-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing. The goal is to make the tradeoff clear before deeper testing.
Mistral Medium 3.5 fits 32x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and ShieldGemma 9B for tighter calls.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Mistral Medium 3.5 | ShieldGemma 9B |
|---|---|---|
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Classification |
| Context window | 256K | 8K |
| Cheapest output | $7.5/1M tokens | - |
| Provider routes | 2 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Mistral Medium 3.5 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Mistral Medium 3.5 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Mistral Medium 3.5 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Medium 3.5 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Local decision data tags ShieldGemma 9B for Classification.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output prices on this page.
Mistral Medium 3.5
$3,075
Cheapest tracked route: Mistral AI Studio
ShieldGemma 9B
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Mistral Medium 3.5 and ShieldGemma 9B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning before moving production traffic.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for ShieldGemma 9B and Mistral Medium 3.5; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Mistral Medium 3.5 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-04-29 | 2024-07-01 |
| Context window | 256K | 8K |
| Parameters | 128B | 9B |
| Architecture | decoder only | decoder only |
| License | Mistral License | 1 |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Mistral Medium 3.5 | ShieldGemma 9B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $1.5/1M tokens | - |
| Output price | $7.5/1M tokens | - |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Mistral Medium 3.5 | ShieldGemma 9B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Function calling | Yes | No |
| Tool use | Yes | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | No |
| Code execution | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark rows are currently sourced for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on vision: Mistral Medium 3.5, multimodal input: Mistral Medium 3.5, reasoning mode: Mistral Medium 3.5, function calling: Mistral Medium 3.5, tool use: Mistral Medium 3.5, and structured outputs: Mistral Medium 3.5. 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.
Pricing coverage is uneven: Mistral Medium 3.5 has $1.5/1M input tokens and ShieldGemma 9B has no token price sourced yet. Provider availability is 2 tracked routes versus 1. Treat unknown pricing as an integration gap, then verify the route you will actually call before estimating production spend.
Choose Mistral Medium 3.5 when reasoning depth, larger context windows, and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose ShieldGemma 9B 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.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Mistral Medium 3.5 or ShieldGemma 9B?
Mistral Medium 3.5 supports 256K tokens, while ShieldGemma 9B supports 8K tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Is Mistral Medium 3.5 or ShieldGemma 9B open source?
Mistral Medium 3.5 is listed under Mistral License. ShieldGemma 9B is listed under 1. 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 3.5 or ShieldGemma 9B?
Mistral Medium 3.5 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 3.5 or ShieldGemma 9B?
Mistral Medium 3.5 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.
Which is better for reasoning mode, Mistral Medium 3.5 or ShieldGemma 9B?
Mistral Medium 3.5 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.
Where can I run Mistral Medium 3.5 and ShieldGemma 9B?
Mistral Medium 3.5 is available on Mistral AI Studio and OpenRouter. ShieldGemma 9B is available on NVIDIA NIM. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-05-14. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.