Mistral Small 4 vs Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Mistral Small 4 (2026) and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B (2026) are frontier reasoning models from MistralAI and Alibaba. Both ship a 256K-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Qwen3.5-397B-A17B leads by 9.8 pts. On pricing, Mistral Small 4 costs $0.10/1M input tokens versus $0.45/1M 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 4 is ~350% cheaper at $0.10/1M; pay for Qwen3.5-397B-A17B only for reasoning depth.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents |
| Decision fit | RAG, Agents, and Long context | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 256K | 256K |
| Cheapest output | $0.30/1M tokens | $3/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 3 tracked | 5 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 2 shared | MMLU PRO leader |
Decision tradeoffs
- Mistral Small 4 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.30/1M tokens.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Small 4 for RAG, Agents, and Long context.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 9.8 points.
- 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 route flexibility.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B uniquely exposes Reasoning and Structured outputs 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 Small 4
$155
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Mistral AI Studio
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
$1,110
Cheapest tracked route/tier: DeepInfra
Estimated monthly gap: $955. 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.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is $2.70/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B adds Reasoning and Structured outputs in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Small 4 is $2.70/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-03-16 | 2026-02-16 |
| Context window | 256K | 256K |
| Parameters | 119B (6.5B active) | 397B (17B active) |
| Architecture | Mixture of Experts | Mixture of Experts |
| License | Apache 2.0OSI-approved | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open source | Open source |
| Weights | Available | Available |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Permitted | Permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-06 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.45/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.30/1M tokens | $3/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | No | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 78.0 | 87.8 |
| τ-bench | 65.8 | 87.9 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, MMLU PRO has Mistral Small 4 at 78 and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B at 87.8, with Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ahead by 9.8 points; τ-bench has Mistral Small 4 at 65.8 and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B at 87.9, with Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ahead by 22.1 points. The largest visible gap is 22.1 points on τ-bench, 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 reasoning mode: Qwen3.5-397B-A17B and structured outputs: Qwen3.5-397B-A17B. Both models share vision, multimodal input, JSON / Tool use, and JSON / 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.
For cost, Mistral Small 4 lists $0.10/1M input and $0.30/1M output tokens on the cheapest listed provider, while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B lists $0.45/1M input and $3/1M output tokens on the cheapest listed provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Mistral Small 4 lower by about $1.05 per million blended tokens. Availability is 3 providers versus 5, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Mistral Small 4 when vision-heavy evaluation and lower input-token cost 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.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Mistral Small 4 or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B supports 256K 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.
Which is cheaper, Mistral Small 4 or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Mistral Small 4 is cheaper on listed token pricing. Mistral Small 4 costs $0.10/1M input and $0.30/1M output tokens. Qwen3.5-397B-A17B costs $0.45/1M input and $3/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Mistral Small 4 or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B open source?
Mistral Small 4 is listed under Apache 2.0. 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 Small 4 or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Both Mistral Small 4 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 Small 4 or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Both Mistral Small 4 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.
Where can I run Mistral Small 4 and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Mistral Small 4 is available on OpenRouter, NVIDIA NIM, and Mistral AI Studio. Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is available on OpenRouter, Together AI, Alibaba Cloud PAI-EAS, Novita AI, and DeepInfra. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-10-27. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.