Model Comparison

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Mistral Small 3 24B Base significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Mistral Small 3 24B Base is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).

Mistral Small 3 24B Base significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Jun 02 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

21.8B diff

Mistral Small 3 24B Base has 21.8B more parameters than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B, making it 1225.8% larger.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
1.8Bparameters
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base
23.6Bparameters
1.8B
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
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 Qwen 1.5B 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 Qwen 1.5B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B 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 Qwen 1.5B

MIT

Open weights

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B 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 Qwen 1.5B.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B

Jan 20, 2025

1.4 years ago

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Jan 30, 2025

1.3 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 Qwen 1.5B'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 Qwen 1.5B's cutoff date.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B

—

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Oct 2023

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

DeepSeek

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

Mistral AI
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (34.4% vs 33.8%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs Mistral Small 3 24B Base.

Which is better, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B or Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

Mistral Small 3 24B Base significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B 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 Qwen 1.5B compare to Mistral Small 3 24B Base in benchmarks?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B scores MATH-500: 83.9%, AIME 2024: 52.7%, GPQA: 33.8%, LiveCodeBench: 16.9%. 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 Qwen 1.5B 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 Qwen 1.5B and Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B is developed by DeepSeek and Mistral Small 3 24B Base is developed by Mistral AI.