Mistral Small 4 vs Mixtral 8x22B Instruct
Updated October 21, 2026. 4 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.
Decision reading
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Mistral Small 4 has the edge where output tokens cost 10.0x less, and where the context window is larger, 262K against 66K tokens.
- Shared results
- 4
- Mistral Small 4 only
- 10
- Mixtral 8x22B Instruct only
- 3
- Like-for-like categories
- 3 of 9
Shared results can support a head-to-head reading. Results only one model has describe coverage, not superiority.
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 4
Mistral Small 4 leads, 11.3 against 5.7.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Mistral Small 4 has a AA Agentic Index result, 0.8.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Mistral Small 4
Mistral Small 4 takes 262K tokens against 66K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Mistral Small 4
Mistral Small 4 $0.0004, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct $0.0050 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Mistral Small 4 not benchmarked, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Reasoning, 24.8 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run): Mistral Small 4 76.9% against Mixtral 8x22B Instruct 33.2%, 43.7 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Mistral Small 4 $0.60 against Mixtral 8x22B Instruct $6.00 per million output tokens, 10.0x apart.
- Context window
- Mistral Small 4 takes 262K 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 4 | Bars | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 2 | 0 | ||
| General | 1 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 4 | 0 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | 26.6 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 14.8% | Only Mixtral 8x22B Instruct measured |
| SciCode | 38.8% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 17.4% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| ALE-Bench | 497.6 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 32 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 11.3 | 5.7 | Mistral Small 4 |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 122.0 | Only Mixtral 8x22B Instruct measured |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 0.8 | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 41.2% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 37 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 76.9% | 33.2% | Mistral Small 4 |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 9.9% | 4.0% | Mistral Small 4 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here | |||
MathNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 13 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 53.7% | Only Mixtral 8x22B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 48.2% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 49.7% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| DTBench | 70.9% | 55.1% | Mistral Small 4 |
| LMCA | 20.6% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 42 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | 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 4 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Mistral Small 4 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Mistral Small 4 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 4 | Mistral Mixtral 8x22B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Mistral AI | Mistral AI |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | March 16, 2026 | April 17, 2024 |
| Context window | 262K | 66K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.15 | $2.00 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.60 | $6.00 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 1 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Mistral Small 4 better than Mixtral 8x22B Instruct for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Mistral Small 4 has the edge where output tokens cost 10.0x less, and where the context window is larger, 262K against 66K tokens.
Which is cheaper, Mistral Small 4 or Mixtral 8x22B Instruct?
Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.60 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 4 or Mixtral 8x22B Instruct?
Mistral Small 4, with 262K tokens against 66K.
How many benchmarks is the Mistral Small 4 vs Mixtral 8x22B Instruct comparison based on?
4 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Mistral Small 4's coding index rests on 1 independent benchmark and Mixtral 8x22B Instruct's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.