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Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking leads the LLM Stats Score 16.3 to 0.4. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is 4.4x cheaper per token.

Mistral AI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking leads the overall LLM Stats Score 16.3 to 0.4, ranking #222 overall.

In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking wins 3; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is roughly 4.4x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base

  • cost matters — it's about 4.4x cheaper per token

Choose Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

  • overall performance matters — it scores 16.3 and ranks #222 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 3 of 3 exact shared results
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
Mistral AI
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
0.4
#323
16.3
#222
Reasoning
0.6
#314
17.3
#209
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
0 of 3
3 of 3
Input price
$0.10 / M
$0.18 / M
Output price
$0.30 / M
$2.09 / M
Context window
128,000
262,144

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

3 shared
Index
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Math
4.7#278
18.9#175
Finance
5.3#168
18.4#96
Legal
5.3#154
19.9#68
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

5 reported for Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base · 50 for Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

3 shared

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU, MMLU-Pro).

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Thu Sep 10 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base costs less

For input processing, Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base ($0.10/1M tokens) is 1.8x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ($0.18/1M tokens).

For output processing, Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base ($0.30/1M tokens) is 7.0x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ($2.09/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is more expensive than Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Thu Sep 10 2026 • llm-stats.com
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.30
Best providerMistral
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Input tokens$0.18
Output tokens$2.09
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

15.0B diff

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base has 15.0B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking, making it 166.7% larger.

Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
24.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
9.0Bparameters
24.0B
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
9.0B
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Input262,144 tokens
Output262,144 tokens
Thu Sep 10 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Text
Images
Audio
Video

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 3.1 24B Base

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

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 8B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is 6 months newer than Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base.

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base

Mar 17, 2025

1.5 years ago

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Sep 22, 2025

11 months ago

6mo newer

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 3.1 24B Base is available from Mistral AI. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is available from DeepInfra.

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.30/1M

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.18/1MOutput Price:Output: $2.09/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base
✓ Preferred
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking.

Which is better, Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base or Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking leads the LLM Stats Score 16.3 to 0.4. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is made by Mistral AI and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base compare to Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking in benchmarks?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base scores MMLU: 81.0%, TriviaQA: 80.5%, MMMU: 59.3%, MMLU-Pro: 56.0%, GPQA: 37.5%. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking scores DocVQAtest: 95.3%, ScreenSpot: 93.6%, MMLU-Redux: 88.8%, MMBench-V1.1: 87.5%, InfoVQAtest: 86.0%.

Is Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base cheaper than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is 1.8x cheaper for input tokens. Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base costs $0.10/M input and $0.30/M output via mistral. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking costs $0.18/M input and $2.09/M output via deepinfra.

What are the context window sizes for Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base supports 128K tokens and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking 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 3.1 24B Base and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (0.4 vs 16.3), context window (128K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.10 vs $0.18/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B Base is developed by Mistral AI and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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