Claude Opus 4.6 vs Mistral Small 4
Claude Opus 4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Mistral Small 4 is 38.1x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude Opus 4.6 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA, MMMU-Pro), while Mistral Small 4 is better at 0 benchmarks. Claude Opus 4.6 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.
Claude Opus 4.6 also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude Opus 4.6
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
Choose Mistral Small 4
- cost matters — it's about 38.1x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Mar 2026
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Claude Opus 4.6 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA, MMMU-Pro), while Mistral Small 4 is better at 0 benchmarks.
Claude Opus 4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Opus 4.6 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 33.3x more expensive than Mistral Small 4 ($0.15/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Opus 4.6 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 41.7x more expensive than Mistral Small 4 ($0.60/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Opus 4.6 is more expensive than Mistral Small 4.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude Opus 4.6 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Mistral Small 4's 256,000 tokens. Mistral Small 4 can generate longer responses up to 256,000 tokens, while Claude Opus 4.6 is limited to 128,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Claude Opus 4.6 and Mistral Small 4 support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude Opus 4.6
Mistral Small 4
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude Opus 4.6 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.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude Opus 4.6 was released on 2026-02-05, while Mistral Small 4 was released on 2026-03-16.
Mistral Small 4 is 1 month newer than Claude Opus 4.6.
Feb 5, 2026
6 months ago
Mar 16, 2026
5 months ago
1mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Claude Opus 4.6 is available from Anthropic. Mistral Small 4 is available from Mistral AI.
Claude Opus 4.6
Mistral Small 4
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Opus 4.6 and Mistral Small 4 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude Opus 4.6 vs Mistral Small 4.