Model Comparison

DeepSeek VL2 Small vs Devstral MediumWhich is better in 2026?

Comparing DeepSeek VL2 Small and Devstral Medium across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Verdict: DeepSeek VL2 Small vs Devstral Medium — which is better?

DeepSeek VL2 Small (by DeepSeek) and Devstral Medium (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.

Choose DeepSeek VL2 Small if…

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose Devstral Medium if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2025

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

DeepSeek VL2 Small and Devstral Mediumdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Devstral Medium specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Devstral Medium specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

DeepSeek
DeepSeek VL2 Small
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Mistral AI
Devstral Medium
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Wed Jun 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

DeepSeek VL2 Small supports multimodal inputs, whereas Devstral Medium does not.

DeepSeek VL2 Small can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

DeepSeek VL2 Small

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Devstral Medium

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek VL2 Small is licensed under deepseek, while Devstral Medium uses a proprietary license.

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

DeepSeek VL2 Small

deepseek

Open weights

Devstral Medium

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek VL2 Small was released on 2024-12-13, while Devstral Medium was released on 2025-07-10.

Devstral Medium is 7 months newer than DeepSeek VL2 Small.

DeepSeek VL2 Small

Dec 13, 2024

1.5 years ago

Devstral Medium

Jul 10, 2025

11 months ago

6mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion

Key Takeaways

Supports multimodal inputs
Has open weights
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
DeepSeek
DeepSeek VL2 Small
Mistral AI
Devstral Medium

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek VL2 Small vs Devstral Medium.

Which is better, DeepSeek VL2 Small or Devstral Medium?

DeepSeek VL2 Small (DeepSeek) and Devstral Medium (Mistral AI) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does DeepSeek VL2 Small compare to Devstral Medium in benchmarks?

DeepSeek VL2 Small scores DocVQA: 92.3%, ChartQA: 84.5%, OCRBench: 83.4%, TextVQA: 83.4%, MMBench: 80.3%. Devstral Medium scores SWE-Bench Verified: 61.6%.

What are the context window sizes for DeepSeek VL2 Small and Devstral Medium?

DeepSeek VL2 Small supports an unknown number of tokens and Devstral Medium supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between DeepSeek VL2 Small and Devstral Medium?

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

Who makes DeepSeek VL2 Small and Devstral Medium?

DeepSeek VL2 Small is developed by DeepSeek and Devstral Medium is developed by Mistral AI.