Model Comparison

GPT-5.6 Terra vs Mistral Small 3 24B BaseWhich is better in 2026?

GPT-5.6 Terra significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: GPT-5.6 Terra vs Mistral Small 3 24B Base — which is better?

GPT-5.6 Terra (by OpenAI) and Mistral Small 3 24B Base (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.

GPT-5.6 Terra outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Mistral Small 3 24B Base is better at 0 benchmarks. GPT-5.6 Terra significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose GPT-5.6 Terra if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026

Choose Mistral Small 3 24B Base if…

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

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

GPT-5.6 Terra outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Mistral Small 3 24B Base is better at 0 benchmarks.

GPT-5.6 Terra significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sun Jul 19 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only GPT-5.6 Terra specifies input context (1,050,000 tokens). Only GPT-5.6 Terra specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Terra
Input1,050,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Sun Jul 19 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both GPT-5.6 Terra and Mistral Small 3 24B Base support multimodal inputs.

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

GPT-5.6 Terra

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

GPT-5.6 Terra is licensed under a proprietary license, 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.

GPT-5.6 Terra

Proprietary

Closed source

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

GPT-5.6 Terra was released on 2026-07-09, while Mistral Small 3 24B Base was released on 2025-01-30.

GPT-5.6 Terra is 18 months newer than Mistral Small 3 24B Base.

GPT-5.6 Terra

Jul 9, 2026

1 weeks ago

1.4yr newer
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Jan 30, 2025

1.5 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-5.6 Terra has a knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-16, while Mistral Small 3 24B Base has a cutoff of 2023-10-01.

GPT-5.6 Terra has more recent training data (up to 2026-02-16), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Mistral Small 3 24B Base (2023-10-01).

GPT-5.6 Terra

Feb 2026

2.3 yr newer
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Oct 2023

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

OpenAI
Larger context window (1,050,000 tokens)
Higher GPQA score (92.9% vs 34.4%)
Mistral AI
Has open weights

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against GPT-5.6 Terra and Mistral Small 3 24B Base side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

GPT-5.6 Terra
✓ Preferred
Mistral Small 3 24B Base
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Terra
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

FAQ

Common questions about GPT-5.6 Terra vs Mistral Small 3 24B Base.

Which is better, GPT-5.6 Terra or Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

GPT-5.6 Terra significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GPT-5.6 Terra is made by OpenAI 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 GPT-5.6 Terra compare to Mistral Small 3 24B Base in benchmarks?

GPT-5.6 Terra scores Connectors: 100.0%, HealthBench Consensus: 95.1%, Search and Function-Calling: 94.6%, GPQA: 92.9%, Capture-the-Flag Challenges (Internal): 91.8%. 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 context window sizes for GPT-5.6 Terra and Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

GPT-5.6 Terra supports 1.1M tokens and Mistral Small 3 24B Base 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 GPT-5.6 Terra and Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

Key differences include licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes GPT-5.6 Terra and Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

GPT-5.6 Terra is developed by OpenAI and Mistral Small 3 24B Base is developed by Mistral AI.

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