DeepSeek Reasoner (R1) vs Mistral Small 3
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
DeepSeek Reasoner (R1)
DeepSeekDeepSeek's reasoning model. Comparable to OpenAI's o1 but at much lower cost.
| Input | $0.550/M |
| Output | $2.19/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | Complex reasoning, math, advanced coding |
| Benchmark | 72/100 |
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 | DeepSeek Reasoner (R1) | Mistral Small 3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 72 | 42 | DeepSeek Reasoner (R1) leads by 30pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 68 | 35 | DeepSeek Reasoner (R1) leads by 33pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 76 | 44 | DeepSeek Reasoner (R1) leads by 32pts |
| HumanEval | 90 | 65 | DeepSeek Reasoner (R1) leads by 25pts |
| BigCodeBench | 56 | 28 | DeepSeek Reasoner (R1) leads by 28pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | DeepSeek Reasoner (R1) | Mistral Small 3 | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.08 | $0.01 | Mistral Small 3 saves $0.07 (85%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $0.63 | $0.10 | Mistral Small 3 saves $0.54 (85%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $3.15 | $0.47 | Mistral Small 3 saves $2.68 (85%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.15 | $0.02 | Mistral Small 3 saves $0.13 (83%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek Reasoner (R1) | 72 | $0.008/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
DeepSeek Reasoner (R1)
- + Strong reasoning chain
- + Good value
- - Slow on simple tasks
Mistral Small 3
- + Ultra-cheap
- - Very limited capabilities
Verdict
Mistral Small 3 is cheaper at $0.100/M, but DeepSeek Reasoner (R1) scores higher on benchmarks (72 vs 42).
Choose Mistral Small 3 for cost-sensitive projects, DeepSeek Reasoner (R1) when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
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Claude Opus 4
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Claude 3.5 Sonnet
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Claude 3.5 Haiku
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Claude 3 Opus
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Claude 3 Sonnet
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