Mistral Small 3 vs Qwen3.5-9B
Mistral Small 3 (2025) and Qwen3.5-9B (2026) are compact production models from MistralAI and Alibaba. Mistral Small 3 ships a 33k-token context window, while Qwen3.5-9B ships a 262k-token context window. On pricing, both list $0.10/1M input tokens on the cheapest tracked route. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Qwen3.5-9B fits 8x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and Mistral Small 3 for tighter calls.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Mistral Small 3 | Qwen3.5-9B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | tool-calling agents and provider-routed production | multimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Agents, Classification, and JSON / Tool use | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 33k | 262k |
| Cheapest output | $0.30/1M tokens | $0.15/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 2 tracked | 4 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Local decision data tags Mistral Small 3 for Agents, Classification, and JSON / Tool use.
- Qwen3.5-9B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Qwen3.5-9B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.15/1M tokens.
- Qwen3.5-9B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Qwen3.5-9B uniquely exposes Vision and Multimodal in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3.5-9B 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 Small 3
$155
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Together AI
Qwen3.5-9B
$118
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Together AI
Estimated monthly gap: $37.50. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on Together AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3.5-9B is $0.15/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Qwen3.5-9B adds Vision and Multimodal in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on Together AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Small 3 is $0.15/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision and Multimodal before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-01-01 | 2026-03-02 |
| Context window | 33k | 262k |
| Parameters | 24B | 9B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Apache 2.0OSI-approved | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open source | Open source |
| Weights | Unknown | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2023-10 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Mistral Small 3 | Qwen3.5-9B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.30/1M tokens | $0.15/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Mistral Small 3 | Qwen3.5-9B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
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Last reviewed: 2026-09-24. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.