Ministral 3 3B vs Mistral Small 4 (Reasoning)
Which is better for the money: Ministral 3 3B by Mistral or Mistral Small 4 (Reasoning) by Mistral? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Mistral Small 4 (Reasoning) scores 6.5 points higher (11.3 vs 4.8) but costs 3.5× as much to run the benchmark ($42.5 vs $12.2; both budget class). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Mistral Small 4 (Reasoning) when you need intelligence above 4.8, and Ministral 3 3B when 4.8 is enough.
| Metric | Ministral 3 3B | Mistral Small 4 (Reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 4.8 | 11.3 | +135.4% Mistral Small 4 (Reas… is 2.4× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $12.23 | $42.50 | +247.5% Mistral Small 4 (Reas… is 3.5× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 3.07s | 14.50s | +372.3% Mistral Small 4 (Reas… is 372.3% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.10 / $0.10 | $0.15 / $0.60 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Mistral Small 4 (Reasoning) vs Ministral 3 3B: 135.4% more intelligence, 247.5% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 372.3% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Ministral 3 3B is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Low) scores 21.50 for $10.6.
- Mistral Small 4 (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Medium) scores 29.90 for $31.2.
Ministral 3 3BMistral Small 4 (Reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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