Model Comparison
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is 2.2x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct — which is better?
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base (by Mistral AI) and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct (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 3.1 24B Base outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU, MMLU-Pro). Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is roughly 2.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (131,072 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base if…
- cost matters — it's about 2.2x cheaper per token
Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
- you process long inputs — it offers a 131,072 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU, MMLU-Pro).
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base ($0.10/1M tokens) is 2.0x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens).
For output processing, Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base ($0.30/1M tokens) is 2.3x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ($0.70/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is more expensive than Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct has 7.0B more parameters than Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base, making it 29.2% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct accepts 131,072 input tokens compared to Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base's 128,000 tokens. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is limited to 32,768 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
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 3.1 24B Base was released on 2025-03-17, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is 6 months newer than Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base.
Mar 17, 2025
1.3 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
9 months ago
6mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is available from Mistral AI. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is available from Novita, DeepInfra.
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
View detailsMistral AI
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct.