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Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking leads the LLM Stats Score 26.8 to 16.5. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is 8.1x cheaper per token.

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

Which is better?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking leads the overall LLM Stats Score 26.8 to 16.5, ranking #139 overall.

In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is roughly 8.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 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 Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

  • cost matters — it's about 8.1x cheaper per token
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025

Choose Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

  • overall performance matters — it scores 26.8 and ranks #139 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Core performance indexes
16.5
#210
26.8
#139
16.6
#202
27.1
#131
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
0 of 1
1 of 1
Input price
$0.15 / M
$0.45 / M
Output price
$0.15 / M
$3.49 / M
Context window
262,100
262,144

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
17.1#192
29.8#78
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

4 reported for Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) · 67 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

1 shared

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is better at 1 benchmark (AIME 2025).

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Sep 04 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) costs less

For input processing, Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) ($0.15/1M tokens) is 3.0x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking ($0.45/1M tokens).

For output processing, Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) ($0.15/1M tokens) is 23.3x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking ($3.49/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is more expensive than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512).*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Fri Sep 04 2026 • llm-stats.com
Mistral AI
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
Input tokens$0.15
Output tokens$0.15
Best providerMistral
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
Input tokens$0.45
Output tokens$3.49
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

228.0B diff

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking has 228.0B more parameters than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512), making it 2850.0% larger.

Mistral AI
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
8.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
236.0Bparameters
8.0B
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
236.0B
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)'s 262,100 tokens. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is limited to 262,100 tokens.

Mistral AI
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
Input262,100 tokens
Output262,100 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
Input262,144 tokens
Output262,144 tokens
Fri Sep 04 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking support multimodal inputs.

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

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

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.

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) was released on 2025-12-04, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is 2 months newer than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking.

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Dec 4, 2025

9 months ago

2mo newer
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Sep 22, 2025

11 months 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

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is available from Mistral AI. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is available from DeepInfra, Novita.

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.15/1M

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.45/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.49/1M
novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.98/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.95/1M
* 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 Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
✓ Preferred
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking.

Which is better, Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking leads the LLM Stats Score 26.8 to 16.5. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is made by Mistral AI and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 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 Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) compare to Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking in benchmarks?

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) scores AIME 2024: 86.0%, AIME 2025: 78.7%, GPQA: 66.8%, LiveCodeBench: 61.6%. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking scores ZebraLogic: 97.3%, DocVQAtest: 96.5%, ScreenSpot: 95.4%, CountBench: 93.7%, MMLU-Redux: 93.7%.

Is Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking?

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is 3.0x cheaper for input tokens. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) costs $0.15/M input and $0.15/M output via mistral. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking costs $0.45/M input and $3.49/M output via deepinfra.

What are the context window sizes for Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking?

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) supports 262K tokens and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 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 Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (16.5 vs 26.8), context window (262K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.15 vs $0.45/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking?

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is developed by Mistral AI and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.