Model Comparison

Claude 3 Sonnet vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B BaseWhich is better in 2026?

Claude 3 Sonnet shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is 40.0x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Claude 3 Sonnet vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base — which is better?

Claude 3 Sonnet (by Anthropic) and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base (by Mistral AI) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

Claude 3 Sonnet outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro), while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is better at 1 benchmark (MMLU). Claude 3 Sonnet shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

On price, Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is roughly 40.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Claude 3 Sonnet also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Claude 3 Sonnet if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 3 shared benchmarks
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window

Choose Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base if…

  • cost matters — it's about 40.0x cheaper per token
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Mar 2025
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

Claude 3 Sonnet outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro), while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is better at 1 benchmark (MMLU).

Claude 3 Sonnet shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Tue Jun 09 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base costs less

For input processing, Claude 3 Sonnet ($3.00/1M tokens) is 30.0x more expensive than Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base ($0.10/1M tokens).

For output processing, Claude 3 Sonnet ($15.00/1M tokens) is 50.0x more expensive than Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base ($0.30/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Claude 3 Sonnet is more expensive than Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Jun 09 2026 • llm-stats.com
Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Input tokens$3.00
Output tokens$15.00
Best providerAnthropic
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.30
Best providerMistral
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Claude 3 Sonnet accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base's 128,000 tokens. Claude 3 Sonnet can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Input200,000 tokens
Output200,000 tokens
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Tue Jun 09 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Claude 3 Sonnet and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Claude 3 Sonnet

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Claude 3 Sonnet is licensed under a proprietary license, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base uses Apache 2.0.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Claude 3 Sonnet

Proprietary

Closed source

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude 3 Sonnet was released on 2024-02-29, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base was released on 2025-03-17.

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is 13 months newer than Claude 3 Sonnet.

Claude 3 Sonnet

Feb 29, 2024

2.3 years ago

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base

Mar 17, 2025

1.2 years ago

1.0yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Claude 3 Sonnet is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is available from Mistral AI.

Claude 3 Sonnet

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.30/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Anthropic
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
Higher GPQA score (40.4% vs 37.5%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (56.8% vs 56.0%)
Mistral AI
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights
Higher MMLU score (81.0% vs 79.0%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base

FAQ

Common questions about Claude 3 Sonnet vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base.

Which is better, Claude 3 Sonnet or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base?

Claude 3 Sonnet shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Claude 3 Sonnet is made by Anthropic and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is made by Mistral AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Claude 3 Sonnet compare to Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base in benchmarks?

Claude 3 Sonnet scores ARC-C: 93.2%, GSM8k: 92.3%, HellaSwag: 89.0%, MGSM: 83.5%, BIG-Bench Hard: 82.9%. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base scores MMLU: 81.0%, TriviaQA: 80.5%, MMMU: 59.3%, MMLU-Pro: 56.0%, GPQA: 37.5%.

Is Claude 3 Sonnet cheaper than Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is 30.0x cheaper for input tokens. Claude 3 Sonnet costs $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output via anthropic. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base costs $0.10/M input and $0.30/M output via mistral.

What are the context window sizes for Claude 3 Sonnet and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base?

Claude 3 Sonnet supports 200K tokens and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Claude 3 Sonnet and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base?

Key differences include context window (200K vs 128K), input pricing ($3.00 vs $0.10/M), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Claude 3 Sonnet and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base?

Claude 3 Sonnet is developed by Anthropic and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is developed by Mistral AI.

Related comparisons