Model Comparison
Mistral Small 3 24B Base vs Qwen3 VL 32B ThinkingWhich is better in 2026?
Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Verdict: Mistral Small 3 24B Base vs Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking — which is better?
Mistral Small 3 24B Base (by Mistral AI) and Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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 Small 3 24B Base outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU, MMLU-Pro). Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Choose Mistral Small 3 24B Base if…
- you are already invested in the Mistral AI ecosystem
Choose Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Mistral Small 3 24B Base outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU, MMLU-Pro).
Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking has 9.4B more parameters than Mistral Small 3 24B Base, making it 39.8% larger.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Mistral Small 3 24B Base and Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Mistral Small 3 24B Base
Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.
Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Mistral Small 3 24B Base was released on 2025-01-30, while Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking is 8 months newer than Mistral Small 3 24B Base.
Jan 30, 2025
1.4 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
8 months ago
7mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Mistral Small 3 24B Base has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-10-01, while Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking'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 Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking's cutoff date.
Oct 2023
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Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Mistral Small 3 24B Base
View detailsMistral AI
No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.
Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about Mistral Small 3 24B Base vs Qwen3 VL 32B Thinking.