Model Comparison

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) vs Mistral Small 3 24B BaseWhich is better in 2026?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) vs Mistral Small 3 24B Base — which is better?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) (by Mistral 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.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Mistral Small 3 24B Base is better at 0 benchmarks. Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025

Choose Mistral Small 3 24B Base if…

  • you are already invested in the Mistral AI ecosystem
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Mistral Small 3 24B Base is better at 0 benchmarks.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jun 13 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

20.6B diff

Mistral Small 3 24B Base has 20.6B more parameters than Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512), making it 686.7% larger.

Mistral AI
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
3.0Bparameters
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base
23.6Bparameters
3.0B
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
23.6B
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) specifies input context (131,100 tokens). Only Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) specifies output context (131,100 tokens).

Mistral AI
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
Input131,100 tokens
Output131,100 tokens
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Sat Jun 13 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Mistral Small 3 24B Base support multimodal inputs.

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

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.

Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) was released on 2025-12-04, while Mistral Small 3 24B Base was released on 2025-01-30.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is 10 months newer than Mistral Small 3 24B Base.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)

Dec 4, 2025

6 months ago

10mo newer
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Jan 30, 2025

1.4 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Mistral Small 3 24B Base has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-10-01, while Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)'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 Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)'s cutoff date.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)

—

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Oct 2023

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Mistral AI
Larger context window (131,100 tokens)
Higher GPQA score (53.4% vs 34.4%)
Mistral AI

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

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Mistral AI
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

FAQ

Common questions about Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) vs Mistral Small 3 24B Base.

Which is better, Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) or Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is made by Mistral 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 Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) compare to Mistral Small 3 24B Base in benchmarks?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) scores AIME 2024: 77.5%, AIME 2025: 72.1%, LiveCodeBench: 54.8%, GPQA: 53.4%. 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 Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) supports 131K 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.

Related comparisons