Model Comparison
Claude Opus 5 vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B BaseWhich is better in 2026?
Comparing Claude Opus 5 and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.
Verdict: Claude Opus 5 vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base — which is better?
Claude Opus 5 (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.
On price, Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is roughly 66.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude Opus 5 also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Claude Opus 5 if…
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026
Choose Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base if…
- cost matters — it's about 66.7x cheaper per token
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Claude Opus 5 and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Basedon'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
For input processing, Claude Opus 5 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 50.0x more expensive than Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base ($0.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Opus 5 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 83.3x more expensive than Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base ($0.30/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Opus 5 is more expensive than Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude Opus 5 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base's 128,000 tokens. Both models can generate responses up to 128,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Claude Opus 5 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 Opus 5
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude Opus 5 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.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude Opus 5 was released on 2026-07-24, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base was released on 2025-03-17.
Claude Opus 5 is 16 months newer than Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base.
Jul 24, 2026
1 days ago
1.4yr newerMar 17, 2025
1.4 years ago
Knowledge 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 5 is available from Anthropic. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is available from Mistral AI.
Claude Opus 5
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Claude Opus 5
View detailsAnthropic
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
View detailsMistral AI
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Opus 5 and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Claude Opus 5 vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base.