Model Comparison

Kimi K3 vs Mistral Small 3 24B BaseWhich is better in 2026?

Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Kimi K3 vs Mistral Small 3 24B Base — which is better?

Kimi K3 (by Moonshot AI) 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.

Kimi K3 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Mistral Small 3 24B Base is better at 0 benchmarks. Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Kimi K3 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

Kimi K3 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Mistral Small 3 24B Base is better at 0 benchmarks.

Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sun Jul 19 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

2776.4B diff

Kimi K3 has 2776.4B more parameters than Mistral Small 3 24B Base, making it 11764.4% larger.

Moonshot AI
Kimi K3
2.8Tparameters
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base
23.6Bparameters
2800.0B
Kimi K3
23.6B
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Kimi K3 specifies input context (1,048,576 tokens). Only Kimi K3 specifies output context (1,048,576 tokens).

Moonshot AI
Kimi K3
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output1,048,576 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 Kimi K3 and Mistral Small 3 24B Base support multimodal inputs.

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

Kimi K3

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Kimi K3 was released on 2026-07-16, while Mistral Small 3 24B Base was released on 2025-01-30.

Kimi K3 is 18 months newer than Mistral Small 3 24B Base.

Kimi K3

Jul 16, 2026

3 days ago

1.5yr newer
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Jan 30, 2025

1.5 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Mistral Small 3 24B Base has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-10-01, while Kimi K3's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Mistral Small 3 24B Base's training data extends to 2023-10-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Kimi K3's cutoff date.

Kimi K3

—

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Oct 2023

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Moonshot AI
Larger context window (1,048,576 tokens)
Higher GPQA score (93.5% vs 34.4%)
Mistral AI

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Kimi K3 and Mistral Small 3 24B Base side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Kimi K3
✓ Preferred
Mistral Small 3 24B Base
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Moonshot AI
Kimi K3
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

FAQ

Common questions about Kimi K3 vs Mistral Small 3 24B Base.

Which is better, Kimi K3 or Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Kimi K3 is made by Moonshot AI 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 Kimi K3 compare to Mistral Small 3 24B Base in benchmarks?

Kimi K3 scores MathVision: 97.8%, DeepSearchQA: 95.0%, GPQA: 93.5%, CharXiv-R: 91.3%, BrowseComp: 91.2%. 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 Kimi K3 and Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

Kimi K3 supports 1.0M 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 Kimi K3 and Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

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

Who makes Kimi K3 and Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

Kimi K3 is developed by Moonshot AI and Mistral Small 3 24B Base is developed by Mistral AI.

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