MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs Mistral Small 4
MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads the LLM Stats Score 48.5 to 18.6. MiniMax M3.1 Flash and Mistral Small 4 cost the same.
MiniMax · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads the overall LLM Stats Score 48.5 to 18.6, ranking #29 overall.
MiniMax M3.1 Flash also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose MiniMax M3.1 Flash
- overall performance matters — it scores 48.5 and ranks #29 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Oct 2026
Choose Mistral Small 4
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
14 reported for MiniMax M3.1 Flash · 9 for Mistral Small 4
MiniMax M3.1 Flash and Mistral Small 4don'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
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, MiniMax M3.1 Flash ($0.15/1M tokens) costs the same as Mistral Small 4 ($0.15/1M tokens).
For output processing, MiniMax M3.1 Flash ($0.60/1M tokens) costs the same as Mistral Small 4 ($0.60/1M tokens).
In conclusion, MiniMax M3.1 Flash and Mistral Small 4 cost the same.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
MiniMax M3.1 Flash accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Mistral Small 4's 256,000 tokens. MiniMax M3.1 Flash can generate longer responses up to 524,288 tokens, while Mistral Small 4 is limited to 256,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both MiniMax M3.1 Flash and Mistral Small 4 support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Mistral Small 4
License
Usage and distribution terms
MiniMax M3.1 Flash is licensed under a proprietary license, while Mistral Small 4 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
MiniMax M3.1 Flash was released on 2026-10-19, while Mistral Small 4 was released on 2026-03-16.
MiniMax M3.1 Flash is 7 months newer than Mistral Small 4.
Oct 19, 2026
0 days ago
7mo newerMar 16, 2026
7 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
MiniMax M3.1 Flash is available from MiniMax. Mistral Small 4 is available from Mistral AI.
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Mistral Small 4
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against MiniMax M3.1 Flash and Mistral Small 4 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs Mistral Small 4.