Mistral Small 4 vs Nemotron 3 Nano Omni
Mistral Small 4 (2026) and Nemotron 3 Nano Omni (2026) are general-purpose language models from MistralAI and NVIDIA AI. Mistral Small 4 ships a 256k-token context window, while Nemotron 3 Nano Omni ships a 262k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Mistral Small 4 leads by 6.2 pts. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Nemotron 3 Nano Omni is safer overall; choose Mistral Small 4 when vision-heavy evaluation matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Mistral Small 4 | Nemotron 3 Nano Omni |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production | multimodal apps |
| Decision fit | RAG, Agents, and Long context | Long context, Vision, and Classification |
| Context window | 256k | 262k |
| Cheapest output | $0.60/1M tokens | - |
| Provider routes | 3 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | MMLU PRO leader | 1 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Mistral Small 4 leads the largest shared benchmark signal on MMLU PRO by 6.2 points.
- Mistral Small 4 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Mistral Small 4 uniquely exposes Vision, Function calling, and Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Small 4 for RAG, Agents, and Long context.
- Nemotron 3 Nano Omni has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Local decision data tags Nemotron 3 Nano Omni for Long context, Vision, and Classification.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Mistral Small 4
$270
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Nemotron 3 Nano Omni
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Function calling, and Tool use before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Small 4 adds Vision, Function calling, and Tool use in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-03-16 | 2026-04-28 |
| Context window | 256k | 262k |
| Parameters | 119B (6.5B active) | 30B |
| Architecture | moe | Hybrid Mamba-Transformer MoE |
| License | Apache 2.0(OSI) | NVIDIA Open Model |
| Openness | Open source | Open weights |
| Commercial use | Commercial use allowed | Commercial use allowed |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-06 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Mistral Small 4 | Nemotron 3 Nano Omni |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.15/1M tokens | - |
| Output price | $0.60/1M tokens | - |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Mistral Small 4 | Nemotron 3 Nano Omni |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | Yes | No |
| Tool use | Yes | No |
| Structured outputs | No | No |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Nemotron 3 Nano Omni |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 78.0 | 71.8 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, MMLU PRO has Mistral Small 4 at 78 and Nemotron 3 Nano Omni at 71.8, with Mistral Small 4 ahead by 6.2 points. The largest visible gap is 6.2 points on MMLU PRO, 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 differs most on vision: Mistral Small 4, function calling: Mistral Small 4, and tool use: Mistral Small 4. Both models share multimodal input, 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 Small 4 has $0.15/1M input tokens and Nemotron 3 Nano Omni has no token price sourced yet. Provider availability is 3 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 Small 4 when vision-heavy evaluation and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Nemotron 3 Nano Omni when long-context analysis and larger context windows 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 Small 4 or Nemotron 3 Nano Omni?
Nemotron 3 Nano Omni supports 262k tokens, while Mistral Small 4 supports 256k tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Is Mistral Small 4 or Nemotron 3 Nano Omni open source?
Mistral Small 4 is listed under Apache 2.0. Nemotron 3 Nano Omni is listed under NVIDIA Open Model. 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 Small 4 or Nemotron 3 Nano Omni?
Mistral Small 4 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 Small 4 or Nemotron 3 Nano Omni?
Both Mistral Small 4 and Nemotron 3 Nano Omni expose multimodal input. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Which is better for function calling, Mistral Small 4 or Nemotron 3 Nano Omni?
Mistral Small 4 has the clearer documented function calling signal in this comparison. If function calling is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Mistral Small 4 and Nemotron 3 Nano Omni?
Mistral Small 4 is available on OpenRouter, NVIDIA NIM, and Mistral AI Studio. Nemotron 3 Nano Omni is available on OpenRouter. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-05-14. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.