Model Comparison

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B vs Mistral Small 3 24B BaseWhich is better in 2026?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B vs Mistral Small 3 24B Base — which is better?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B (by DeepSeek) and Mistral Small 3 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.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Mistral Small 3 24B Base is better at 0 benchmarks. DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B if…

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

Choose Mistral Small 3 24B Base if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jan 2025
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Mistral Small 3 24B Base is better at 0 benchmarks.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Thu Jun 11 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

15.6B diff

Mistral Small 3 24B Base has 15.6B more parameters than DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B, making it 193.9% larger.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B
8.0Bparameters
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base
23.6Bparameters
8.0B
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B
23.6B
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Mistral Small 3 24B Base supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B does not.

Mistral Small 3 24B Base can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B is licensed under MIT, while Mistral Small 3 24B Base uses Apache 2.0.

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

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B

MIT

Open weights

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B was released on 2025-01-20, while Mistral Small 3 24B Base was released on 2025-01-30.

Mistral Small 3 24B Base is 0 month newer than DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B

Jan 20, 2025

1.4 years ago

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Jan 30, 2025

1.4 years ago

1w newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Mistral Small 3 24B Base has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-10-01, while DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Mistral Small 3 24B Base's training data extends to 2023-10-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B's cutoff date.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B

—

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Oct 2023

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

DeepSeek
Higher GPQA score (49.0% vs 34.4%)
Mistral AI
Supports multimodal inputs

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B vs Mistral Small 3 24B Base.

Which is better, DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B or Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B is made by DeepSeek and Mistral Small 3 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 DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B compare to Mistral Small 3 24B Base in benchmarks?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B scores MATH-500: 89.1%, AIME 2024: 80.0%, GPQA: 49.0%, LiveCodeBench: 39.6%. Mistral Small 3 24B Base scores ARC-C: 91.3%, GSM8k: 80.7%, MMLU: 80.7%, TriviaQA: 80.3%, MBPP: 69.6%.

What are the main differences between DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B and Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (MIT vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B and Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B is developed by DeepSeek and Mistral Small 3 24B Base is developed by Mistral AI.

Related comparisons