Mistral Small 3 vs Mixtral 8x22B Instruct
Mistral Small 3 leads Mixtral 8x22B Instruct on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 6.7 to 5.7, and Mistral Small 3 costs 75.0x less per output token ($0.08 vs $6.00 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 5 benchmarks have a result for both.
Mistral Small 3 or Mixtral 8x22B Instruct: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Mistral Small 3 for output tokens 75.0x cheaper ($0.08 vs $6.00 per million) and work measured by Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run), where it leads.
- Shared results
- 5
- Mistral Small 3 only
- 31
- Mixtral 8x22B Instruct only
- 3
- Like-for-like categories
- 4 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Mistral Small 3
Mistral Small 3 leads, 6.7 against 5.7.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
Mixtral 8x22B Instruct
Mixtral 8x22B Instruct takes 66K tokens against 33K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Mistral Small 3
Mistral Small 3 $0.0001, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct $0.0050 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Mistral Small 3 not benchmarked, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Knowledge, 11.5 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run): Mistral Small 3 46.2% against Mixtral 8x22B Instruct 33.2%, 13.0 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Mistral Small 3 $0.08 against Mixtral 8x22B Instruct $6.00 per million output tokens, 75.0x apart.
- Context window
- Mistral Small 3 takes 33K tokens, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct 66K.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | Mistral Small 3 | Bars | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 1 | 0 | ||
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 1 | 1 | ||
| Knowledge | 1 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 4 | 1 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index10
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 25.2% | 14.8% | Mistral Small 3 |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1246 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1248 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 0.0% | Only Mixtral 8x22B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 35 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 6.7 | 5.7 | Mistral Small 3 |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 122.0 | Only Mixtral 8x22B Instruct measured |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 19.6% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index11
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 46.2% | 33.2% | Mistral Small 3 |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 3.8% | 4.0% | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1233 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1202 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1243 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 17 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | 4.3 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 4.3% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1240 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1243 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 65.2% | 53.7% | Mistral Small 3 |
| LMArena Text: science | 1235 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1215 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1219 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1205 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index18 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 26.4% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| DTBench | Not measured | 55.1% | Only Mixtral 8x22B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text | 1234 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1214 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1194 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1256 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1198 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1204 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: German | 1211 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1111 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1188 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1204 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1216 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1217 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1246 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1214 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1184 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 28 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Mistral Small 3 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Mistral Small 3 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Mistral Small 3 costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Mistral Small 3 | Mistral Mixtral 8x22B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Mistral AI | Mistral AI |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | January 30, 2025 | April 17, 2024 |
| Context window | 33K | 66K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.05 | $2.00 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.08 | $6.00 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Mistral Small 3 better than Mixtral 8x22B Instruct for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Mistral Small 3 for output tokens 75.0x cheaper ($0.08 vs $6.00 per million) and work measured by Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run), where it leads.
Which is cheaper, Mistral Small 3 or Mixtral 8x22B Instruct?
Mistral Small 3 costs $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.08 per million output tokens; Mixtral 8x22B Instruct costs $2.00 and $6.00. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Mistral Small 3 or Mixtral 8x22B Instruct?
Mixtral 8x22B Instruct, with 66K tokens against 33K.
How many benchmarks is the Mistral Small 3 vs Mixtral 8x22B Instruct comparison based on?
5 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Mistral Small 3's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Mixtral 8x22B Instruct's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.