Mistral Small 3 vs Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct leads Mistral Small 3 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 7.3 to 6.7, and Mistral Small 3 costs 9.4x less per output token ($0.08 vs $0.75 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 10 benchmarks have a result for both.
Mistral Small 3 or Qwen3 VL 8B 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 9.4x cheaper ($0.08 vs $0.75 per million) and work measured by LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) or AA Intelligence Index, where it leads.
- Shared results
- 10
- Mistral Small 3 only
- 26
- Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct only
- 1
- Like-for-like categories
- 7 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
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct leads, 7.3 against 6.7.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct takes 262K tokens against 33K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Mistral Small 3
Mistral Small 3 $0.0001, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct $0.0006 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Mistral Small 3 not benchmarked, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Math, 26.4 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- Long context reasoning (AA-LCR): Mistral Small 3 0.0% against Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct 33.3%, 33.3 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Mistral Small 3 $0.08 against Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct $0.75 per million output tokens, 9.4x apart.
- Context window
- Mistral Small 3 takes 33K tokens, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct 262K.
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 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 1 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 1 | ||
| Reasoning | 0 | 1 | 1 tie | |
| Math | 0 | 2 | ||
| Knowledge | 0 | 1 | ||
| General | 0 | 2 | ||
| All shared boards | 0 | 9 | 1 tie |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index01
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 25.2% | 35.3% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 3.8% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1246 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1248 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 35 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 6.7 | 7.3 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 19.6% | 29.2% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 46.2% | 57.9% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 3.8% | 3.8% | Tie |
| 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 | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | 4.3 | 30.7 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 4.3% | 30.7% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| 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 index01
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 65.2% | 74.9% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| 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 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 26.4% | 39.9% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 0.0% | 33.3% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| 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 29 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 3 | Qwen3 VL 8B 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 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Mistral AI | Qwen |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | January 30, 2025 | October 14, 2025 |
| Context window | 33K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.05 | $0.25 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.08 | $0.75 |
| 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 Qwen3 VL 8B 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 9.4x cheaper ($0.08 vs $0.75 per million) and work measured by LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) or AA Intelligence Index, where it leads.
Which is cheaper, Mistral Small 3 or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?
Mistral Small 3 costs $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.08 per million output tokens; Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct costs $0.25 and $0.75. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Mistral Small 3 or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct, with 262K tokens against 33K.
How many benchmarks is the Mistral Small 3 vs Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct comparison based on?
10 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Mistral Small 3's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.