Model Comparison

Mistral Small vs Pixtral-12B

Comparing Mistral Small and Pixtral-12B across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Mistral Small and Pixtral-12B don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Pixtral-12B costs less

For input processing, Mistral Small ($0.20/1M tokens) is 1.3x more expensive than Pixtral-12B ($0.15/1M tokens).

For output processing, Mistral Small ($0.60/1M tokens) is 4.0x more expensive than Pixtral-12B ($0.15/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Mistral Small is more expensive than Pixtral-12B.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat May 23 2026 • llm-stats.com
Mistral AI
Mistral Small
Input tokens$0.20
Output tokens$0.60
Best providerMistral
Mistral AI
Pixtral-12B
Input tokens$0.15
Output tokens$0.15
Best providerMistral
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

9.6B diff

Mistral Small has 9.6B more parameters than Pixtral-12B, making it 77.4% larger.

Mistral AI
Mistral Small
22.0Bparameters
Mistral AI
Pixtral-12B
12.4Bparameters
22.0B
Mistral Small
12.4B
Pixtral-12B

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Pixtral-12B accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to Mistral Small's 32,768 tokens. Mistral Small can generate longer responses up to 32,768 tokens, while Pixtral-12B is limited to 8,192 tokens.

Mistral AI
Mistral Small
Input32,768 tokens
Output32,768 tokens
Mistral AI
Pixtral-12B
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Sat May 23 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Pixtral-12B supports multimodal inputs, whereas Mistral Small does not.

Pixtral-12B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Mistral Small

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Pixtral-12B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Mistral Small is licensed under Mistral Research License, while Pixtral-12B uses Apache 2.0.

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

Mistral Small

Mistral Research License

Open weights

Pixtral-12B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Both models were released on 2024-09-17.

They likely represent similar generations of model development.

Mistral Small

Sep 17, 2024

1.7 years ago

Pixtral-12B

Sep 17, 2024

1.7 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

Mistral Small is available from Mistral AI. Pixtral-12B is available from Mistral AI.

Mistral Small

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M

Pixtral-12B

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.15/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Mistral AI

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

Mistral AI
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Mistral AI
Mistral Small
Mistral AI
Pixtral-12B

FAQ

Common questions about Mistral Small vs Pixtral-12B.

Which is better, Mistral Small or Pixtral-12B?

Mistral Small (Mistral AI) and Pixtral-12B (Mistral AI) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Mistral Small compare to Pixtral-12B in benchmarks?

Pixtral-12B scores DocVQA: 90.7%, ChartQA: 81.8%, VQAv2: 78.6%, MT-Bench: 76.8%, HumanEval: 72.0%.

Is Mistral Small cheaper than Pixtral-12B?

Pixtral-12B is 1.3x cheaper for input tokens. Mistral Small costs $0.20/M input and $0.60/M output via mistral. Pixtral-12B costs $0.15/M input and $0.15/M output via mistral.

What are the context window sizes for Mistral Small and Pixtral-12B?

Mistral Small supports 33K tokens and Pixtral-12B supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Mistral Small and Pixtral-12B?

Key differences include context window (33K vs 128K), input pricing ($0.20 vs $0.15/M), multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Mistral Research License vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.