Model Comparison

LongCat-Flash-Lite vs Mistral Small 4Which is better in 2026?

Mistral Small 4 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. LongCat-Flash-Lite is 1.5x cheaper per token.

Verdict: LongCat-Flash-Lite vs Mistral Small 4 — which is better?

LongCat-Flash-Lite (by Meituan) and Mistral Small 4 (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.

LongCat-Flash-Lite outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MMLU-Pro), while Mistral Small 4 is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA). Mistral Small 4 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

On price, LongCat-Flash-Lite is roughly 1.5x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Choose LongCat-Flash-Lite if…

  • cost matters — it's about 1.5x cheaper per token

Choose Mistral Small 4 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 3 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Mar 2026

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

LongCat-Flash-Lite outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MMLU-Pro), while Mistral Small 4 is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA).

Mistral Small 4 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Tue Aug 04 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

LongCat-Flash-Lite costs less

For input processing, LongCat-Flash-Lite ($0.10/1M tokens) is 1.5x cheaper than Mistral Small 4 ($0.15/1M tokens).

For output processing, LongCat-Flash-Lite ($0.40/1M tokens) is 1.5x cheaper than Mistral Small 4 ($0.60/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Mistral Small 4 is more expensive than LongCat-Flash-Lite.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Aug 04 2026 • llm-stats.com
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Lite
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.40
Best providerMeituan
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 4
Input tokens$0.15
Output tokens$0.60
Best providerMistral
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

50.5B diff

Mistral Small 4 has 50.5B more parameters than LongCat-Flash-Lite, making it 73.7% larger.

Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Lite
68.5Bparameters
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 4
119.0Bparameters
68.5B
LongCat-Flash-Lite
119.0B
Mistral Small 4

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Both models have the same input context window of 256,000 tokens. Mistral Small 4 can generate longer responses up to 256,000 tokens, while LongCat-Flash-Lite is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Lite
Input256,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 4
Input256,000 tokens
Output256,000 tokens
Tue Aug 04 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Mistral Small 4 supports multimodal inputs, whereas LongCat-Flash-Lite does not.

Mistral Small 4 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

LongCat-Flash-Lite

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Small 4

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

LongCat-Flash-Lite is licensed under MIT, while Mistral Small 4 uses Apache 2.0.

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

LongCat-Flash-Lite

MIT

Open weights

Mistral Small 4

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

LongCat-Flash-Lite was released on 2026-02-05, while Mistral Small 4 was released on 2026-03-16.

Mistral Small 4 is 1 month newer than LongCat-Flash-Lite.

LongCat-Flash-Lite

Feb 5, 2026

6 months ago

Mistral Small 4

Mar 16, 2026

4 months ago

1mo 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

Provider Availability

LongCat-Flash-Lite is available from Meituan. Mistral Small 4 is available from Mistral AI.

LongCat-Flash-Lite

meituan logo
Meituan
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.40/1M

Mistral Small 4

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Meituan
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Higher MMLU-Pro score (78.3% vs 78.0%)
Mistral AI
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher AIME 2025 score (83.8% vs 63.2%)
Higher GPQA score (71.2% vs 66.8%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against LongCat-Flash-Lite and Mistral Small 4 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

LongCat-Flash-Lite
✓ Preferred
Mistral Small 4
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Lite
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 4

FAQ

Common questions about LongCat-Flash-Lite vs Mistral Small 4.

Which is better, LongCat-Flash-Lite or Mistral Small 4?

Mistral Small 4 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. LongCat-Flash-Lite is made by Meituan and Mistral Small 4 is made by Mistral AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does LongCat-Flash-Lite compare to Mistral Small 4 in benchmarks?

LongCat-Flash-Lite scores MATH-500: 96.8%, MMLU: 85.5%, CMMLU: 82.5%, MMLU-Pro: 78.3%, Tau2 Retail: 73.1%. Mistral Small 4 scores AIME 2025: 83.8%, MMLU-Pro: 78.0%, AA-LCR: 71.2%, GPQA: 71.2%, LiveCodeBench: 63.6%.

Is LongCat-Flash-Lite cheaper than Mistral Small 4?

LongCat-Flash-Lite is 1.5x cheaper for input tokens. LongCat-Flash-Lite costs $0.10/M input and $0.40/M output via meituan. Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15/M input and $0.60/M output via mistral.

What are the context window sizes for LongCat-Flash-Lite and Mistral Small 4?

LongCat-Flash-Lite supports 256K tokens and Mistral Small 4 supports 256K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between LongCat-Flash-Lite and Mistral Small 4?

Key differences include input pricing ($0.10 vs $0.15/M), multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (MIT vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes LongCat-Flash-Lite and Mistral Small 4?

LongCat-Flash-Lite is developed by Meituan and Mistral Small 4 is developed by Mistral AI.

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