Mistral Small 4 vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Mistral Small 4 leads Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 11.3 to 9.5, and Mistral Small 4 costs 1.7x less per output token ($0.60 vs $1.00 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 1 benchmarks have a result for both.
Mistral Small 4 or Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Mistral Small 4 for output tokens 1.7x cheaper ($0.60 vs $1.00 per million).
- Shared results
- 1
- Mistral Small 4 only
- 14
- Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking only
- 0
- Like-for-like categories
- 1 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 4
Mistral Small 4 leads, 11.3 against 9.5.
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
No call
Both take 262K tokens.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Mistral Small 4
Mistral Small 4 $0.0004, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking $0.0008 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Mistral Small 4 not benchmarked, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Intelligence, 1.8 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- AA Intelligence Index: Mistral Small 4 11.3 against Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking 9.5, 1.8 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Mistral Small 4 $0.60 against Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking $1.00 per million output tokens, 1.7x apart.
- Context window
- Both take 262K tokens.
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 | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 1 | 0 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking | 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 |
| 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 38 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 11.3 | 9.5 | Mistral Small 4 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking | 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 40 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 76.9% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 9.9% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 40.5% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 20 boards here | |||
MathNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 14 boards here | |||
KnowledgeNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 20 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking | 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% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| LMCA | 20.6% | Not measured | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 44 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking | 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 | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Mistral AI | Qwen |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | March 16, 2026 | October 6, 2025 |
| Context window | 262K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.15 | $0.29 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.60 | $1.00 |
| 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 Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Mistral Small 4 for output tokens 1.7x cheaper ($0.60 vs $1.00 per million).
Which is cheaper, Mistral Small 4 or Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?
Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.60 per million output tokens; Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking costs $0.29 and $1.00. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Mistral Small 4 or Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?
Neither: both take 262K tokens.
How many benchmarks is the Mistral Small 4 vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking comparison based on?
1 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Mistral Small 4's coding index rests on 1 independent benchmark and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.