Model Comparison

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct vs Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507Which is better in 2026?

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is 11.1x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct vs Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 — which is better?

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct (by Mistral AI) and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 (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 Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, IFEval, MMLU-Pro). Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is roughly 11.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct if…

  • cost matters — it's about 11.1x cheaper per token

Choose Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2025
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, IFEval, MMLU-Pro).

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jun 13 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct costs less

For input processing, Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct ($0.07/1M tokens) is 4.3x cheaper than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 ($0.30/1M tokens).

For output processing, Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct ($0.14/1M tokens) is 21.4x cheaper than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 ($3.00/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 is more expensive than Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat Jun 13 2026 • llm-stats.com
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct
Input tokens$0.07
Output tokens$0.14
Best providerDeepinfra
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$3.00
Best providerFireworks
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

211.0B diff

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 has 211.0B more parameters than Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct, making it 879.2% larger.

Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct
24.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507
235.0Bparameters
24.0B
Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct
235.0B
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct's 32,000 tokens. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is limited to 32,000 tokens.

Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct
Input32,000 tokens
Output32,000 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507
Input262,144 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Sat Jun 13 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.

Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct was released on 2025-01-30, while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 was released on 2025-07-25.

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 is 6 months newer than Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct.

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct

Jan 30, 2025

1.4 years ago

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507

Jul 25, 2025

10 months ago

5mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-10-01, while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct's training data extends to 2023-10-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507's cutoff date.

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct

Oct 2023

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507

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Provider Availability

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Mistral AI. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 is available from Fireworks, Novita.

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.07/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.14/1M
mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.30/1M

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507

fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.00/1M
novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.00/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Mistral AI
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Larger context window (262,144 tokens)
Higher GPQA score (81.1% vs 45.3%)
Higher IFEval score (87.8% vs 82.9%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (84.4% vs 66.3%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507

FAQ

Common questions about Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct vs Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507.

Which is better, Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct or Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507?

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is made by Mistral AI and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct compare to Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 in benchmarks?

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct scores Arena Hard: 87.6%, HumanEval: 84.8%, MT-Bench: 83.5%, IFEval: 82.9%, MATH: 70.6%. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 scores MMLU-Redux: 93.8%, AIME 2025: 92.3%, WritingBench: 88.3%, IFEval: 87.8%, Creative Writing v3: 86.1%.

Is Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct cheaper than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507?

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is 4.3x cheaper for input tokens. Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct costs $0.07/M input and $0.14/M output via deepinfra. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 costs $0.30/M input and $3.00/M output via fireworks.

What are the context window sizes for Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507?

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct supports 32K tokens and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 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 Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507?

Key differences include context window (32K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.07 vs $0.30/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507?

Mistral Small 3 24B Instruct is developed by Mistral AI and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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