GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) vs Mistral Small 3.1
Which is better for the money: GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) by Z AI or Mistral Small 3.1 by Mistral? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) scores 19.0 points higher (26.1 vs 7.1) but costs 53× as much to run the benchmark ($1487 vs $27.8; premium vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) when you need intelligence above 7.1, and Mistral Small 3.1 when 7.1 is enough.
| Metric | GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) | Mistral Small 3.1 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 26.1 | 7.1 | −72.8% Mistral Small 3.1 is 72.8% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,486.78 | $27.82 | −98.1% Mistral Small 3.1 is 98.1% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 60.66s | 11.78s | −80.6% Mistral Small 3.1 is 80.6% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $1.28 / $4.07 | $0.08 / $0.14 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
Mistral Small 3.1 vs GLM-5.1 (Reasoning): 72.8% less intelligence, 98.1% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 80.6% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- Mistral Small 3.1 is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Low) scores 21.50 for $10.6.
GLM-5.1 (Reasoning)Mistral Small 3.1Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/glm-5-1/mistral-small-3-1 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/glm-5-1/mistral-small-3-1?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill