DeepSeek-V3 vs Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct
DeepSeek-V3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is 5.5x cheaper per token.
DeepSeek · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
DeepSeek-V3 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (GPQA, IFEval, MMLU-Pro), while Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks. DeepSeek-V3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is roughly 5.5x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
DeepSeek-V3 also accepts a larger context window (131,072 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose DeepSeek-V3
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
- you process long inputs — it offers a 131,072 token context window
Choose Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 5.5x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jan 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
DeepSeek-V3 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (GPQA, IFEval, MMLU-Pro), while Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.
DeepSeek-V3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, DeepSeek-V3 ($0.27/1M tokens) is 3.9x more expensive than Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct ($0.07/1M tokens).
For output processing, DeepSeek-V3 ($1.10/1M tokens) is 7.9x more expensive than Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct ($0.14/1M tokens).
In conclusion, DeepSeek-V3 is more expensive than Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
DeepSeek-V3 has 647.0B more parameters than Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct, making it 2695.8% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
DeepSeek-V3 accepts 131,072 input tokens compared to Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct's 32,000 tokens. DeepSeek-V3 can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is limited to 32,000 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek-V3 is licensed under MIT + Model License (Commercial use allowed), while Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT + Model License (Commercial use allowed)
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
DeepSeek-V3 was released on 2024-12-25, while Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct was released on 2025-01-30.
Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is 1 month newer than DeepSeek-V3.
Dec 25, 2024
1.7 years ago
Jan 30, 2025
1.6 years ago
1mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-10-01, while DeepSeek-V3's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct's training data extends to 2023-10-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without DeepSeek-V3's cutoff date.
—
Oct 2023
Provider Availability
DeepSeek-V3 is available from DeepSeek. Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Mistral AI.
DeepSeek-V3
Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek-V3 and Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek-V3 vs Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct.