Grok 3 vs Mistral Small
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
Updated
Grok 3 specs · Mistral Small specs- PriceMistral Small
Mistral Small is roughly 25.0× cheaper on output tokens ($0.60 vs $15.00 per 1M).
- Context windowTie
Both ship a 128K-token context window.
- BenchmarksTie
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.
- ModalitiesGrok 3
Grok 3 supports 2 modalities (text, vision) vs 1 for Mistral Small.
- OpennessMistral Small
Mistral Small ships open weights (Apache-2.0); Grok 3 is API-only.
On balance Mistral Small edges ahead, winning 2 of 5 categories against Grok 3's 1. Mistral Small is roughly 25.0× cheaper on output tokens ($0.60 vs $15.00 per 1M). Both ship a 128K-token context window.
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, Grok 3 handles text, vision while Mistral Small handles text, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Mistral Small ships open weights (Apache-2.0); Grok 3 is API-only.
Grok 3 is the newer of the two, released 5 months after Mistral Small, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Grok 3 is usually picked for chatbots and research agent workloads, while Mistral Small sees more deployments in cheapest llm and fastest llm. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Grok 3 | Mistral Small |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | xAI | Mistral |
| Released | Feb 2025 | Sep 2024 |
| Modalities | text, vision | text |
| Context window | 128K tokens | 128K tokens |
| Max output | , | , |
| Input · 1M | $3.00 / 1M tokens | $0.20 / 1M tokens |
| Output · 1M | $15.00 / 1M tokens | $0.60 / 1M tokens |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-08 | , |
| Open weights | No | Yes (Apache-2.0) |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
Pricing at scale
What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day$31.50 vs $1.50
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$315 vs $15.00
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$540 vs $33.60
Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $31.50 vs $1.50 per month, model B comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $315 vs $15.00 per month, model B comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $540 vs $33.60 per month, model B comes out ahead.
Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Grok 3$1.05
- Mistral Small$0.050
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
Grok 3 fits when…
- Real-time X access
- Reasoning modes
- Multimodal needs covering vision.
Mistral Small fits when…
- Apache-2.0 open-weight
- Fast and cheap
- Cost-sensitive workloads, 25.0× cheaper than Grok 3 on output tokens.
- Self-hosting and on-prem requirements, open weights (Apache-2.0).
Consider Grok 4
xAI's mid-2025 flagship, top scores on Humanity's Last Exam at launch, with native real-time X integration.
Frequently asked
Is Grok 3 or Mistral Small cheaper?
Mistral Small is cheaper at $0.60 / 1M tokens per million output tokens, vs $15.00 / 1M tokens for Grok 3.Which has the larger context window?
Both Grok 3 and Mistral Small ship a 128K-token context window.Is Grok 3 or Mistral Small better for coding?
Both Grok 3 and Mistral Small are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.Are either of these models open source?
Mistral Small ships open weights (Apache-2.0). Grok 3 is API-only.When were Grok 3 and Mistral Small released?
Grok 3 was released by xAI on 2025-02-17. Mistral Small was released by Mistral on 2024-09-18.
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