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Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B vs Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) are closely matched at -0.8 and -2.4 on the LLM Stats Score.

Google · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at -0.8 and -2.4.

In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.07/M input and $0.30/M output

Choose Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)

  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B
Google
Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)
Mistral AI
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
-0.8
#331
-2.4
#338
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
0 of 1
1 of 1
Input price
$0.07 / M
— / M
Output price
$0.30 / M
— / M
Context window
1,048,576
—

Individual benchmarks

13 reported for Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B · 1 for Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)

1 shared

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) is better at 1 benchmark (XSTest).

Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sun Sep 20 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

5.0B diff

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B has 5.0B more parameters than Shieldstral 1.0 (3B), making it 166.7% larger.

Google
Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B
8.0Bparameters
Mistral AI
Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)
3.0Bparameters
8.0B
Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B
3.0B
Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B specifies input context (1,048,576 tokens). Only Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B specifies output context (8,192 tokens).

Google
Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Mistral AI
Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Sun Sep 20 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B is licensed under a proprietary license, while Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) uses Apache 2.0.

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

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B

Proprietary

Closed source

Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B was released on 2024-03-15, while Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) was released on 2026-08-04.

Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) is 29 months newer than Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B

Mar 15, 2024

2.5 years ago

Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)

Aug 4, 2026

1 months ago

2.4yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-10-01, while Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)'s cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B's training data extends to 2024-10-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)'s cutoff date.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B

Oct 2024

Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)

—

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B
✓ Preferred
Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B vs Shieldstral 1.0 (3B).

Which is better, Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B or Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)?

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) are closely matched on the LLM Stats Score at -0.8 and -2.4. Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B is made by Google and Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) is made by Mistral AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B compare to Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) in benchmarks?

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B scores XSTest: 92.6%, FLEURS: 86.4%, Natural2Code: 75.5%, WMT23: 72.6%, Video-MME: 66.2%. Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) scores XSTest: 94.6%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)?

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B supports 1.0M tokens and Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (-0.8 vs -2.4), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Shieldstral 1.0 (3B)?

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B is developed by Google and Shieldstral 1.0 (3B) is developed by Mistral AI.

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