Magistral Small 2506 vs Pixtral-12B
Magistral Small 2506 leads the LLM Stats Score 10.7 to -1.6.
Mistral AI · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Magistral Small 2506 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 10.7 to -1.6, ranking #261 overall.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Magistral Small 2506
- overall performance matters — it scores 10.7 and ranks #261 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2025
Choose Pixtral-12B
- you want predictable pricing at $0.15/M input and $0.15/M output
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
4 reported for Magistral Small 2506 · 12 for Pixtral-12B
Magistral Small 2506 and Pixtral-12Bdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Magistral Small 2506 has 11.6B more parameters than Pixtral-12B, making it 93.5% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Pixtral-12B specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Pixtral-12B specifies output context (8,192 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Pixtral-12B supports multimodal inputs, whereas Magistral Small 2506 does not.
Pixtral-12B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Magistral Small 2506
Pixtral-12B
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.
Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Magistral Small 2506 was released on 2025-06-10, while Pixtral-12B was released on 2024-09-17.
Magistral Small 2506 is 9 months newer than Pixtral-12B.
Jun 10, 2025
1.3 years ago
8mo newerSep 17, 2024
2.0 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Magistral Small 2506 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-06-01, while Pixtral-12B's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Magistral Small 2506's training data extends to 2025-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Pixtral-12B's cutoff date.
Jun 2025
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Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Magistral Small 2506 and Pixtral-12B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Magistral Small 2506 vs Pixtral-12B.