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Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) vs Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct are closely matched at 11.2 and 10.7 on the LLM Stats Score. Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is 2.3x cheaper per token.

Mistral AI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 11.2 and 10.7.

In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is roughly 2.3x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (262,144 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 Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)

  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
  • cost matters — it's about 2.3x cheaper per token
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025

Choose Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

  • you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
Mistral AI
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
11.2
#262
10.7
#265
Reasoning
11.4
#257
8.2
#278
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
1 of 1
0 of 1
Input price
$0.10 / M
$0.10 / M
Output price
$0.10 / M
$0.60 / M
Context window
131,100
262,144

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
Math
12.8#231
7.8#262
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

4 reported for Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) · 45 for Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

1 shared

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) outperforms in 1 benchmarks (AIME 2025), while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.

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

Tue Sep 22 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) costs less

For input processing, Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) ($0.10/1M tokens) costs the same as Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).

For output processing, Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) ($0.10/1M tokens) is 6.0x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct ($0.60/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is more expensive than Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512).*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Sep 22 2026 • llm-stats.com
Mistral AI
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.10
Best providerMistral
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.60
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

1.0B diff

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct has 1.0B more parameters than Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512), making it 33.3% larger.

Mistral AI
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
3.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
4.0Bparameters
3.0B
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
4.0B
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)'s 131,100 tokens. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is limited to 131,100 tokens.

Mistral AI
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
Input131,100 tokens
Output131,100 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
Input262,144 tokens
Output262,144 tokens
Tue Sep 22 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct 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

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

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

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

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 Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is 2 months newer than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)

Dec 4, 2025

9 months ago

2mo newer
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

Sep 22, 2025

1.0 years ago

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

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is available from Mistral AI. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is available from DeepInfra.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.10/1M

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
✓ Preferred
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) vs Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct.

Which is better, Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) or Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct are closely matched on the LLM Stats Score at 11.2 and 10.7. Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is made by Mistral AI and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) compare to Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct in benchmarks?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) scores AIME 2024: 77.5%, AIME 2025: 72.1%, LiveCodeBench: 54.8%, GPQA: 53.4%. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct scores DocVQAtest: 95.3%, ScreenSpot: 94.0%, OCRBench: 88.1%, MMBench-V1.1: 85.1%, AI2D: 84.1%.

Is Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) cheaper than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct?

Both models cost $0.10 per million input tokens.

What are the context window sizes for Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) supports 131K tokens and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (11.2 vs 10.7), context window (131K vs 262K). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is developed by Mistral AI and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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