Model Comparison

Claude Opus 4.5 vs Mistral Small 4Which is better in 2026?

Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Mistral Small 4 is 38.1x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Claude Opus 4.5 vs Mistral Small 4 — which is better?

Claude Opus 4.5 (by Anthropic) and Mistral Small 4 (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 Opus 4.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Mistral Small 4 is better at 0 benchmarks. Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Mistral Small 4 is roughly 38.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Mistral Small 4 also accepts a larger context window (256,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Claude Opus 4.5 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks

Choose Mistral Small 4 if…

  • cost matters — it's about 38.1x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 256,000 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Mar 2026
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Claude Opus 4.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Mistral Small 4 is better at 0 benchmarks.

Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Jun 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Mistral Small 4 costs less

For input processing, Claude Opus 4.5 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 33.3x more expensive than Mistral Small 4 ($0.15/1M tokens).

For output processing, Claude Opus 4.5 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 41.7x more expensive than Mistral Small 4 ($0.60/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Claude Opus 4.5 is more expensive than Mistral Small 4.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Jun 16 2026 • llm-stats.com
Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.5
Input tokens$5.00
Output tokens$25.00
Best providerAnthropic
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 4
Input tokens$0.15
Output tokens$0.60
Best providerMistral
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Mistral Small 4 accepts 256,000 input tokens compared to Claude Opus 4.5's 200,000 tokens. Mistral Small 4 can generate longer responses up to 256,000 tokens, while Claude Opus 4.5 is limited to 64,000 tokens.

Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.5
Input200,000 tokens
Output64,000 tokens
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 4
Input256,000 tokens
Output256,000 tokens
Tue Jun 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Claude Opus 4.5 and Mistral Small 4 support multimodal inputs.

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

Claude Opus 4.5

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Small 4

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Claude Opus 4.5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Mistral Small 4 uses Apache 2.0.

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 4

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude Opus 4.5 was released on 2025-11-24, while Mistral Small 4 was released on 2026-03-16.

Mistral Small 4 is 4 months newer than Claude Opus 4.5.

Claude Opus 4.5

Nov 24, 2025

6 months ago

Mistral Small 4

Mar 16, 2026

3 months ago

3mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Claude Opus 4.5 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-03-31, while Mistral Small 4'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 4's cutoff date.

Claude Opus 4.5

Mar 2025

Mistral Small 4

—

Provider Availability

Claude Opus 4.5 is available from Anthropic. Mistral Small 4 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 4

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Anthropic
Higher GPQA score (87.0% vs 71.2%)
Mistral AI
Larger context window (256,000 tokens)
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 4

FAQ

Common questions about Claude Opus 4.5 vs Mistral Small 4.

Which is better, Claude Opus 4.5 or Mistral Small 4?

Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude Opus 4.5 is made by Anthropic and Mistral Small 4 is made by Mistral AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Claude Opus 4.5 compare to Mistral Small 4 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%. Mistral Small 4 scores AIME 2025: 83.8%, MMLU-Pro: 78.0%, AA-LCR: 71.2%, GPQA: 71.2%, LiveCodeBench: 63.6%.

Is Claude Opus 4.5 cheaper than Mistral Small 4?

Mistral Small 4 is 33.3x cheaper for input tokens. Claude Opus 4.5 costs $5.00/M input and $25.00/M output via anthropic. Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15/M input and $0.60/M output via mistral.

What are the context window sizes for Claude Opus 4.5 and Mistral Small 4?

Claude Opus 4.5 supports 200K tokens and Mistral Small 4 supports 256K 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 4?

Key differences include context window (200K vs 256K), input pricing ($5.00 vs $0.15/M), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Claude Opus 4.5 and Mistral Small 4?

Claude Opus 4.5 is developed by Anthropic and Mistral Small 4 is developed by Mistral AI.

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