Model Comparison

Claude Opus 4.5 vs Mistral SmallWhich is better in 2026?

Comparing Claude Opus 4.5 and Mistral Small across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Verdict: Claude Opus 4.5 vs Mistral Small — which is better?

Claude Opus 4.5 (by Anthropic) and Mistral Small (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.

On price, Mistral Small is roughly 33.3x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Claude Opus 4.5 also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Claude Opus 4.5 if…

  • you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2025

Choose Mistral Small if…

  • cost matters — it's about 33.3x cheaper per token
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Claude Opus 4.5 and Mistral Small don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Mistral Small costs less

For input processing, Claude Opus 4.5 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 25.0x more expensive than Mistral Small ($0.20/1M tokens).

For output processing, Claude Opus 4.5 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 41.7x more expensive than Mistral Small ($0.60/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Claude Opus 4.5 is more expensive than Mistral Small.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat Jun 06 2026 • llm-stats.com
Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.5
Input tokens$5.00
Output tokens$25.00
Best providerAnthropic
Mistral AI
Mistral Small
Input tokens$0.20
Output tokens$0.60
Best providerMistral
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Claude Opus 4.5 accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to Mistral Small's 32,768 tokens. Claude Opus 4.5 can generate longer responses up to 64,000 tokens, while Mistral Small is limited to 32,768 tokens.

Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.5
Input200,000 tokens
Output64,000 tokens
Mistral AI
Mistral Small
Input32,768 tokens
Output32,768 tokens
Sat Jun 06 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Claude Opus 4.5 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Mistral Small does not.

Claude Opus 4.5 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Claude Opus 4.5

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Small

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Claude Opus 4.5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Mistral Small uses Mistral Research License.

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

Claude Opus 4.5

Proprietary

Closed source

Mistral Small

Mistral Research License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude Opus 4.5 was released on 2025-11-24, while Mistral Small was released on 2024-09-17.

Claude Opus 4.5 is 14 months newer than Mistral Small.

Claude Opus 4.5

Nov 24, 2025

6 months ago

1.2yr newer
Mistral Small

Sep 17, 2024

1.7 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Claude Opus 4.5 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-03-31, while Mistral Small's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Claude Opus 4.5's training data extends to 2025-03-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Mistral Small's cutoff date.

Claude Opus 4.5

Mar 2025

Mistral Small

—

Provider Availability

Claude Opus 4.5 is available from Anthropic. Mistral Small is available from Mistral AI.

Claude Opus 4.5

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $5.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $25.00/1M

Mistral Small

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M
* 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)
Supports multimodal inputs
Mistral AI
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.5
Mistral AI
Mistral Small

FAQ

Common questions about Claude Opus 4.5 vs Mistral Small.

Which is better, Claude Opus 4.5 or Mistral Small?

Claude Opus 4.5 (Anthropic) and Mistral Small (Mistral AI) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Claude Opus 4.5 compare to Mistral Small in benchmarks?

Claude Opus 4.5 scores Tau2 Telecom: 98.2%, MMMLU: 90.8%, Tau2 Retail: 88.9%, GPQA: 87.0%, SWE-Bench Verified: 80.9%.

Is Claude Opus 4.5 cheaper than Mistral Small?

Mistral Small is 25.0x cheaper for input tokens. Claude Opus 4.5 costs $5.00/M input and $25.00/M output via anthropic. Mistral Small costs $0.20/M input and $0.60/M output via mistral.

What are the context window sizes for Claude Opus 4.5 and Mistral Small?

Claude Opus 4.5 supports 200K tokens and Mistral Small supports 33K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Claude Opus 4.5 and Mistral Small?

Key differences include context window (200K vs 33K), input pricing ($5.00 vs $0.20/M), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs Mistral Research License). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Claude Opus 4.5 and Mistral Small?

Claude Opus 4.5 is developed by Anthropic and Mistral Small is developed by Mistral AI.

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