Model Comparison

Mistral Large 2 vs Mistral Small 3 24B BaseWhich is better in 2026?

Mistral Large 2 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Mistral Large 2 vs Mistral Small 3 24B Base — which is better?

Mistral Large 2 (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.

Mistral Large 2 outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GSM8k, MMLU), while Mistral Small 3 24B Base is better at 0 benchmarks. Mistral Large 2 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Mistral Large 2 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks

Choose Mistral Small 3 24B Base if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jan 2025
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

Mistral Large 2 outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GSM8k, MMLU), while Mistral Small 3 24B Base is better at 0 benchmarks.

Mistral Large 2 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Jun 09 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

99.4B diff

Mistral Large 2 has 99.4B more parameters than Mistral Small 3 24B Base, making it 421.2% larger.

Mistral AI
Mistral Large 2
123.0Bparameters
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base
23.6Bparameters
123.0B
Mistral Large 2
23.6B
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Mistral Large 2 specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Mistral Large 2 specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

Mistral AI
Mistral Large 2
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Tue Jun 09 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Mistral Small 3 24B Base supports multimodal inputs, whereas Mistral Large 2 does not.

Mistral Small 3 24B Base can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Mistral Large 2

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Mistral Large 2 is licensed under Mistral Research License, while Mistral Small 3 24B Base uses Apache 2.0.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Mistral Large 2

Mistral Research License

Open weights

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Mistral Large 2 was released on 2024-07-24, while Mistral Small 3 24B Base was released on 2025-01-30.

Mistral Small 3 24B Base is 6 months newer than Mistral Large 2.

Mistral Large 2

Jul 24, 2024

1.9 years ago

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Jan 30, 2025

1.4 years ago

6mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Mistral Small 3 24B Base has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-10-01, while Mistral Large 2'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 Mistral Large 2's cutoff date.

Mistral Large 2

—

Mistral Small 3 24B Base

Oct 2023

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Mistral AI
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Higher GSM8k score (93.0% vs 80.7%)
Higher MMLU score (84.0% vs 80.7%)
Mistral AI
Supports multimodal inputs

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Mistral AI
Mistral Large 2
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Base

FAQ

Common questions about Mistral Large 2 vs Mistral Small 3 24B Base.

Which is better, Mistral Large 2 or Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

Mistral Large 2 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Mistral Large 2 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 Mistral Large 2 compare to Mistral Small 3 24B Base in benchmarks?

Mistral Large 2 scores GSM8k: 93.0%, HumanEval: 92.0%, MT-Bench: 86.3%, MMLU: 84.0%, MMLU French: 82.8%. 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 Mistral Large 2 and Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

Mistral Large 2 supports 128K 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.

What are the main differences between Mistral Large 2 and Mistral Small 3 24B Base?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Mistral Research License vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

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