Model Comparison

Gemini 3 Flash vs Magistral Small 2506Which is better in 2026?

Gemini 3 Flash significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemini 3 Flash vs Magistral Small 2506 — which is better?

Gemini 3 Flash (by Google) and Magistral Small 2506 (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.

Gemini 3 Flash outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA), while Magistral Small 2506 is better at 0 benchmarks. Gemini 3 Flash significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Gemini 3 Flash if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025

Choose Magistral Small 2506 if…

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

Gemini 3 Flash outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA), while Magistral Small 2506 is better at 0 benchmarks.

Gemini 3 Flash significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Jun 12 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Gemini 3 Flash specifies input context (1,000,000 tokens). Only Gemini 3 Flash specifies output context (65,536 tokens).

Google
Gemini 3 Flash
Input1,000,000 tokens
Output65,536 tokens
Mistral AI
Magistral Small 2506
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Fri Jun 12 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Gemini 3 Flash supports multimodal inputs, whereas Magistral Small 2506 does not.

Gemini 3 Flash can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Gemini 3 Flash

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Magistral Small 2506

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemini 3 Flash is licensed under a proprietary license, while Magistral Small 2506 uses Apache 2.0.

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

Gemini 3 Flash

Proprietary

Closed source

Magistral Small 2506

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemini 3 Flash was released on 2025-12-17, while Magistral Small 2506 was released on 2025-06-10.

Gemini 3 Flash is 6 months newer than Magistral Small 2506.

Gemini 3 Flash

Dec 17, 2025

5 months ago

6mo newer
Magistral Small 2506

Jun 10, 2025

1.0 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemini 3 Flash has a knowledge cutoff of 2025-01-31, while Magistral Small 2506 has a cutoff of 2025-06-01.

Magistral Small 2506 has more recent training data (up to 2025-06-01), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Gemini 3 Flash (2025-01-31).

Gemini 3 Flash

Jan 2025

Magistral Small 2506

Jun 2025

5 mo newer

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Google
Larger context window (1,000,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher AIME 2025 score (99.7% vs 62.8%)
Higher GPQA score (90.4% vs 68.2%)
Mistral AI
Has open weights

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemini 3 Flash
Mistral AI
Magistral Small 2506

FAQ

Common questions about Gemini 3 Flash vs Magistral Small 2506.

Which is better, Gemini 3 Flash or Magistral Small 2506?

Gemini 3 Flash significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemini 3 Flash is made by Google and Magistral Small 2506 is made by Mistral AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Gemini 3 Flash compare to Magistral Small 2506 in benchmarks?

Gemini 3 Flash scores Vending-Bench 2: 100.0%, AIME 2025: 99.7%, Global PIQA: 92.8%, MMMLU: 91.8%, GPQA: 90.4%. Magistral Small 2506 scores AIME 2024: 70.7%, GPQA: 68.2%, AIME 2025: 62.8%, LiveCodeBench: 51.3%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemini 3 Flash and Magistral Small 2506?

Gemini 3 Flash supports 1.0M tokens and Magistral Small 2506 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 3 Flash and Magistral Small 2506?

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

Who makes Gemini 3 Flash and Magistral Small 2506?

Gemini 3 Flash is developed by Google and Magistral Small 2506 is developed by Mistral AI.

Related comparisons