Claude 3.5 Haiku vs Mistral Small 3
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
Claude 3.5 Haiku
AnthropicFast, cost-effective model for high-volume tasks. Great for code review and simple queries.
| Input | $0.800/M |
| Output | $4.00/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | Code review, high-volume tasks, simple queries |
| Benchmark | 52/100 |
Mistral Small 3
MistralMistral's cost-effective model. Very affordable for general-purpose tasks.
| Input | $0.100/M |
| Output | $0.300/M |
| Context | 32K tokens |
| Best For | High-volume tasks, cost optimization |
| Benchmark | 42/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | Claude 3.5 Haiku | Mistral Small 3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 52 | 42 | Claude 3.5 Haiku leads by 10pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 45 | 35 | Claude 3.5 Haiku leads by 10pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 55 | 44 | Claude 3.5 Haiku leads by 11pts |
| HumanEval | 75 | 65 | Claude 3.5 Haiku leads by 10pts |
| BigCodeBench | 38 | 28 | Claude 3.5 Haiku leads by 10pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | Claude 3.5 Haiku | Mistral Small 3 | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.16 | $0.01 | Mistral Small 3 saves $0.15 (92%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $1.24 | $0.10 | Mistral Small 3 saves $1.15 (92%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $6.21 | $0.47 | Mistral Small 3 saves $5.74 (92%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.32 | $0.02 | Mistral Small 3 saves $0.30 (92%) |
Value Analysis (Price per Benchmark Score Point)
Lower is better — how much you pay for each point of benchmark performance.
| Model | Overall Score | Price per Score Point | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude 3.5 Haiku | 52 | $0.015/pt | Higher cost per point |
| Mistral Small 3 | 42 | $0.002/pt | Better value |
Mistral Small 3 delivers the best value at $0.002 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Claude 3.5 Haiku
- + Fastest Claude model
- + Cheapest option
- + Good for code review
- - Struggles with complex tasks
- - Limited reasoning depth
Mistral Small 3
- + Ultra-cheap
- - Very limited capabilities
Verdict
Mistral Small 3 is cheaper at $0.100/M, but Claude 3.5 Haiku scores higher on benchmarks (52 vs 42).
Choose Mistral Small 3 for cost-sensitive projects, Claude 3.5 Haiku when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
Claude Sonnet 4
AnthropicAnthropic's balanced model for coding and general tasks. Best price-performance ratio in the Claude family.
Claude Opus 4
AnthropicAnthropic's most powerful model. Best for complex reasoning and challenging coding tasks.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
AnthropicPrevious generation Sonnet. Still excellent for coding tasks at the same price point.
Claude 3 Opus
AnthropicFirst generation Opus. Highest reasoning capability in the Claude 3 family.
Claude 3 Sonnet
AnthropicFirst generation Sonnet. Balanced performance for general tasks.
Claude 3 Haiku
AnthropicCheapest Claude model. Fast responses for simple tasks and basic coding.