Llama 3.2 90B Instruct vs Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct and Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct are closely matched at 5.2 and 8.4 on the LLM Stats Score. Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct is 3.4x cheaper per token.
Meta · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct and Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 5.2 and 8.4.
In the 8 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct wins 6; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct is roughly 3.4x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Llama 3.2 90B Instruct
- you want predictable pricing at $0.35/M input and $0.40/M output
Choose Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 6 of 8 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 3.4x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
13 reported for Llama 3.2 90B Instruct · 15 for Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU), while Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct is better at 6 benchmarks (AI2D, ChartQA, DocVQA, MATH, MathVista, MMMU).
Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Llama 3.2 90B Instruct ($0.35/1M tokens) is 4.7x more expensive than Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct ($0.07/1M tokens).
For output processing, Llama 3.2 90B Instruct ($0.40/1M tokens) is 2.0x more expensive than Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Llama 3.2 90B Instruct is more expensive than Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct has 66.4B more parameters than Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct, making it 281.4% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 128,000 tokens. Both models can generate responses up to 128,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Llama 3.2 90B Instruct and Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct
Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.2, while Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Llama 3.2
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct was released on 2024-09-25, while Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct was released on 2025-06-20.
Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct is 9 months newer than Llama 3.2 90B Instruct.
Sep 25, 2024
2.0 years ago
Jun 20, 2025
1.3 years ago
8mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-10-01, while Llama 3.2 90B Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct's training data extends to 2023-10-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Llama 3.2 90B Instruct's cutoff date.
—
Oct 2023
Provider Availability
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Bedrock, Fireworks, Together, Hyperbolic. Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct is available from DeepInfra.
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct
Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Llama 3.2 90B Instruct and Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Llama 3.2 90B Instruct vs Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct.