Model Comparison
Grok-1.5 vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Verdict: Grok-1.5 vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct — which is better?
Grok-1.5 (by xAI) and Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct (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 Instruct is better at 5 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU-Pro, MMMU). Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Choose Grok-1.5 if…
- you are already invested in the xAI ecosystem
Choose Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 6 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
Grok-1.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MMLU), while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct is better at 5 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU-Pro, MMMU).
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas Grok-1.5 does not.
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Grok-1.5
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Grok-1.5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
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 Instruct was released on 2025-03-17.
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct is 12 months newer than Grok-1.5.
Mar 28, 2024
2.2 years ago
Mar 17, 2025
1.2 years ago
11mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about Grok-1.5 vs Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct.