Mistral Medium 3 vs Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Mistral Medium 3 (2025) and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B (2026) are frontier reasoning models from MistralAI and Alibaba. Mistral Medium 3 ships a 128k-token context window, while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ships a 262k-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.
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is safer overall; choose Mistral Medium 3 when coding workflow support matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Mistral Medium 3 | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps and tool-calling agents | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 128k | 262k |
| Cheapest output | - | $2.34/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 0 tracked | 4 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Mistral Medium 3 uniquely exposes Code execution in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Medium 3 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B uniquely exposes Reasoning in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3.5-397B-A17B for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Mistral Medium 3
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
$897
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
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 and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Code execution before moving production traffic.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B adds Reasoning in local capability data.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Qwen3.5-397B-A17B and Mistral Medium 3; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning before moving production traffic.
- Mistral Medium 3 adds Code execution in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-05-01 | 2026-02-16 |
| Context window | 128k | 262k |
| Parameters | — | 397B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Mixture of Experts |
| License | Proprietary | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Proprietary | Open source |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-03 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Mistral Medium 3 | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | - | $0.39/1M tokens |
| Output price | - | $2.34/1M tokens |
| Providers | - |
Capabilities
| Capability | Mistral Medium 3 | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Function calling | Yes | Yes |
| 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 reasoning mode: Qwen3.5-397B-A17B and code execution: Mistral Medium 3. Both models share vision, multimodal input, function calling, and tool use, 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 has no token price sourced yet and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has $0.39/1M input tokens. Provider availability is 0 tracked routes versus 4. Treat unknown pricing as an integration gap, then verify the route you will actually call before estimating production spend.
Choose Mistral Medium 3 when coding workflow support are central to the workload. Choose Qwen3.5-397B-A17B when reasoning depth, 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. This keeps the decision grounded in measurable tradeoffs instead of brand-level assumptions. It also helps separate model capability from provider packaging, which can change cost and latency. For teams standardizing a stack, that distinction is often the difference between a benchmark win and a reliable deployment.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Mistral Medium 3 or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B supports 262k tokens, while Mistral Medium 3 supports 128k 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 or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B open source?
Mistral Medium 3 is listed under Proprietary. Qwen3.5-397B-A17B 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 Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Both Mistral Medium 3 and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B expose vision. 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.
Which is better for multimodal input, Mistral Medium 3 or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Both Mistral Medium 3 and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B expose multimodal input. 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.
Which is better for reasoning mode, Mistral Medium 3 or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B 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 and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Mistral Medium 3 is available on the tracked providers still being sourced. Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is available on OpenRouter, Together AI, Alibaba Cloud PAI-EAS, and Novita AI. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-06-15. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.