Model Comparison

Grok-1.5 vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B BaseWhich is better in 2026?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Verdict: Grok-1.5 vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base — which is better?

Grok-1.5 (by xAI) and Mistral Small 3.1 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.

Grok-1.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MMLU), while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro, MMMU). Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Choose Grok-1.5 if…

  • you are already invested in the xAI ecosystem

Choose Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 4 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Mar 2025
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

4 benchmarks

Grok-1.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MMLU), while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro, MMMU).

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Tue Jul 21 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok-1.5
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Tue Jul 21 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base supports multimodal inputs, whereas Grok-1.5 does not.

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Grok-1.5

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-1.5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base uses Apache 2.0.

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

Grok-1.5

Proprietary

Closed source

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-1.5 was released on 2024-03-28, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base was released on 2025-03-17.

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is 12 months newer than Grok-1.5.

Grok-1.5

Mar 28, 2024

2.3 years ago

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base

Mar 17, 2025

1.3 years ago

11mo 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

xAI
Higher MMLU score (81.3% vs 81.0%)
Mistral AI
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Has open weights
Higher GPQA score (37.5% vs 35.9%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (56.0% vs 51.0%)
Higher MMMU score (59.3% vs 53.6%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok-1.5 and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok-1.5
✓ Preferred
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-1.5
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-1.5 vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base.

Which is better, Grok-1.5 or Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Grok-1.5 is made by xAI and Mistral Small 3.1 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 Grok-1.5 compare to Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base in benchmarks?

Grok-1.5 scores GSM8k: 90.0%, DocVQA: 85.6%, MMLU: 81.3%, HumanEval: 74.1%, MMMU: 53.6%. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base scores MMLU: 81.0%, TriviaQA: 80.5%, MMMU: 59.3%, MMLU-Pro: 56.0%, GPQA: 37.5%.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-1.5 and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base?

Grok-1.5 supports an unknown number of tokens and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base 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 Grok-1.5 and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base?

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

Who makes Grok-1.5 and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base?

Grok-1.5 is developed by xAI and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is developed by Mistral AI.

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