Mistral Medium 3 vs Mistral Small 3
Mistral Medium 3 (2025) and Mistral Small 3 (2025) are compact production models from MistralAI. Mistral Medium 3 ships a 128K-token context window, while Mistral Small 3 ships a 32K-token context window. On pricing, Mistral Small 3 costs $0.10/1M input tokens versus $0.40/1M 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.
Mistral Small 3 is ~300% cheaper at $0.10/1M; pay for Mistral Medium 3 only for coding workflow support.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Mistral Medium 3 | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal 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 | 128K | 32K |
| Cheapest output | $2/1M tokens | $0.30/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 5 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Mistral Medium 3 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Mistral Medium 3 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Mistral Medium 3 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Code execution in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Medium 3 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Mistral Small 3 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.30/1M tokens.
- 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.
Mistral Medium 3
$820
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Mistral AI Studio
Mistral Small 3
$155
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Together AI
Estimated monthly gap: $665. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Small 3 is $1.70/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Code execution before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Medium 3 is $1.70/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Mistral Medium 3 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Code execution in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-05-01 | 2025-01-30 |
| Context window | 128K | 32K |
| Parameters | — | 24B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Proprietary | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Proprietary | Open source |
| Weights | Not released | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Restricted | Permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-03 | 2023-10 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Mistral Medium 3 | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.40/1M tokens | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Output price | $2/1M tokens | $0.30/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Mistral Medium 3 | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | Yes | 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 vision: Mistral Medium 3, multimodal input: Mistral Medium 3, and code execution: Mistral Medium 3. Both models share JSON / Tool use, and structured outputs, 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 3 lists $0.40/1M input and $2/1M 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 Mistral Small 3 lower by about $0.72 per million blended tokens. Availability is 5 providers versus 3, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Mistral Medium 3 when coding workflow support, larger context windows, and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Small 3 when provider fit 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. This keeps the decision grounded in measurable tradeoffs instead of brand-level assumptions.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Mistral Medium 3 or Mistral Small 3?
Mistral Medium 3 supports 128K tokens, while Mistral Small 3 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 3 or Mistral Small 3?
Mistral Small 3 is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Mistral Medium 3 costs $0.40/1M input and $2/1M 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 Mistral Medium 3 or Mistral Small 3 open source?
Mistral Medium 3 is listed under Proprietary. 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 vision, Mistral Medium 3 or Mistral Small 3?
Mistral Medium 3 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 or Mistral Small 3?
Mistral Medium 3 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 3 and Mistral Small 3?
Mistral Medium 3 is available on NVIDIA NIM, Mistral AI Studio, Microsoft Foundry, OpenRouter, and GCP Vertex AI. Mistral Small 3 is available on Together AI, OpenRouter, and Vercel AI Gateway. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-10-18. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.