Model Comparison

Granite 3.3 8B Base vs Mistral SmallWhich is better in 2026?

Comparing Granite 3.3 8B Base and Mistral Small across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Verdict: Granite 3.3 8B Base vs Mistral Small — which is better?

Granite 3.3 8B Base (by IBM) and Mistral Small (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 Granite 3.3 8B Base if…

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

Choose Mistral Small if…

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.20/M input and $0.60/M output

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Granite 3.3 8B Base and Mistral Smalldon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

13.8B diff

Mistral Small has 13.8B more parameters than Granite 3.3 8B Base, making it 169.3% larger.

IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base
8.2Bparameters
Mistral AI
Mistral Small
22.0Bparameters
8.2B
Granite 3.3 8B Base
22.0B
Mistral Small

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Mistral Small specifies input context (32,768 tokens). Only Mistral Small specifies output context (32,768 tokens).

IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Mistral AI
Mistral Small
Input32,768 tokens
Output32,768 tokens
Fri Jul 10 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Granite 3.3 8B Base supports multimodal inputs, whereas Mistral Small does not.

Granite 3.3 8B Base can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Small

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Granite 3.3 8B Base is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Mistral Small uses Mistral Research License.

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

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Mistral Small

Mistral Research License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Granite 3.3 8B Base was released on 2025-04-16, while Mistral Small was released on 2024-09-17.

Granite 3.3 8B Base is 7 months newer than Mistral Small.

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apr 16, 2025

1.2 years ago

7mo newer
Mistral Small

Sep 17, 2024

1.8 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Granite 3.3 8B Base has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-04-01, while Mistral Small's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Granite 3.3 8B Base's training data extends to 2024-04-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Mistral Small's cutoff date.

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apr 2024

Mistral Small

—

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

IBM
Supports multimodal inputs
Mistral AI
Larger context window (32,768 tokens)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Granite 3.3 8B Base and Mistral Small side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Granite 3.3 8B Base
✓ Preferred
Mistral Small
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base
Mistral AI
Mistral Small

FAQ

Common questions about Granite 3.3 8B Base vs Mistral Small.

Which is better, Granite 3.3 8B Base or Mistral Small?

Granite 3.3 8B Base (IBM) and Mistral Small (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 Granite 3.3 8B Base compare to Mistral Small in benchmarks?

Granite 3.3 8B Base scores HumanEval: 89.7%, AttaQ: 88.5%, HumanEval+: 86.1%, AIME 2024: 81.2%, HellaSwag: 80.1%.

What are the context window sizes for Granite 3.3 8B Base and Mistral Small?

Granite 3.3 8B Base supports an unknown number of tokens and Mistral Small supports 33K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Granite 3.3 8B Base and Mistral Small?

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

Who makes Granite 3.3 8B Base and Mistral Small?

Granite 3.3 8B Base is developed by IBM and Mistral Small is developed by Mistral AI.

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