Mistral Small 3 vs O1 Preview
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
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 |
O1 Preview
OpenAIOpenAI's first reasoning model. Strong at complex problem solving but expensive.
| Input | $15.00/M |
| Output | $60.00/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | Complex math, science, algorithm design |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | Mistral Small 3 | O1 Preview | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.01 | $2.32 | Mistral Small 3 saves $2.31 (99%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $0.10 | $17.25 | Mistral Small 3 saves $17.16 (99%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $0.47 | $86.25 | Mistral Small 3 saves $85.78 (99%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.02 | $4.13 | Mistral Small 3 saves $4.10 (99%) |
Verdict
Mistral Small 3 wins on both price and performance — $0.100/M input with a benchmark score of N/A/100.
For most developers, this is the clear choice between these two models.
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