Mistral Small 4 vs Qwen3.5-9B
Mistral Small 4 (2026) and Qwen3.5-9B (2026) are general-purpose language models from MistralAI and Alibaba. Mistral Small 4 ships a 256K-token context window, while Qwen3.5-9B ships a 262K-token context window. On Google-Proof Q&A, Qwen3.5-9B leads by 4.8 pts. On pricing, Qwen3.5-9B costs $0.1/1M input tokens versus $0.15/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Qwen3.5-9B is ~50% cheaper at $0.1/1M; pay for Mistral Small 4 only for vision-heavy evaluation.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3.5-9B |
|---|---|---|
| Decision fit | RAG, Agents, and Long context | RAG, Agents, and Long context |
| Context window | 256K | 262K |
| Cheapest output | $0.6/1M tokens | $0.15/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 3 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 1 rows | Google-Proof Q&A leader |
Decision tradeoffs
- Local decision data tags Mistral Small 4 for RAG, Agents, and Long context.
- Qwen3.5-9B leads the largest shared benchmark signal on Google-Proof Q&A by 4.8 points.
- 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 uniquely exposes Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3.5-9B for RAG, Agents, and Long context.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output prices on this page.
Mistral Small 4
$270
Cheapest tracked route: OpenRouter
Qwen3.5-9B
$118
Cheapest tracked route: Together AI
Estimated monthly gap: $153. Batch, cache, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3.5-9B is $0.45/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Qwen3.5-9B adds Structured outputs in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Small 4 is $0.45/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-03-16 | 2026-03-02 |
| Context window | 256K | 262K |
| Parameters | 119B (6.5B active) | 9B |
| Architecture | moe | decoder only |
| License | Apache 2.0 | Apache 2.0 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-06 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3.5-9B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.15/1M tokens | $0.1/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.6/1M tokens | $0.15/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3.5-9B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | Yes | Yes |
| Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | No | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3.5-9B |
|---|---|---|
| Google-Proof Q&A | 76.9 | 81.7 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, Google-Proof Q&A has Mistral Small 4 at 76.9 and Qwen3.5-9B at 81.7, with Qwen3.5-9B ahead by 4.8 points. The largest visible gap is 4.8 points on Google-Proof Q&A, 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 structured outputs: Qwen3.5-9B. 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.
For cost, Mistral Small 4 lists $0.15/1M input and $0.6/1M output tokens, while Qwen3.5-9B lists $0.1/1M input and $0.15/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Qwen3.5-9B lower by about $0.17 per million blended tokens. Availability is 3 providers versus 3, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Mistral Small 4 when vision-heavy evaluation are central to the workload. Choose Qwen3.5-9B when long-context analysis, larger context windows, 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.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Mistral Small 4 or Qwen3.5-9B?
Qwen3.5-9B 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.
Which is cheaper, Mistral Small 4 or Qwen3.5-9B?
Qwen3.5-9B is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15/1M input and $0.6/1M output tokens. Qwen3.5-9B costs $0.1/1M input and $0.15/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Mistral Small 4 or Qwen3.5-9B open source?
Mistral Small 4 is listed under Apache 2.0. Qwen3.5-9B 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 Qwen3.5-9B?
Both Mistral Small 4 and Qwen3.5-9B 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 Qwen3.5-9B?
Both Mistral Small 4 and Qwen3.5-9B 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 Qwen3.5-9B?
Mistral Small 4 is available on OpenRouter, NVIDIA NIM, and Mistral AI Studio. Qwen3.5-9B is available on Together AI, OpenRouter, and Alibaba Cloud PAI-EAS. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-05-19. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.