Intelligence
7 scoreMistral · Flagships Analysis
Mistral Small 3
Intelligence, Performance & Price Analysis
Canonical slug: mistral-small-3 · Canonical model registry at build time
Speed
165.6 output tokens/secLatency
0.77s TTFTInput Price
$0.10 / 1M tokensOutput Price
$0.30 / 1M tokensExecutive Assessment
Routing Verdict & Tradeoffs
Ethen Routing Verdict
Budget-friendly / task-specific model
Mistral Small 3 scores 7 (estimated) on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, placing it above average among other open weight non-reasoning models of similar size (median: 6). Mistral Small 3 generates output at 165.6 tokens per second (based on Mistral's API), which is well above average compared to other open weight non-reasoning models of similar size (median: 101.8 t/s). Mistral Small 3 costs $0.10 per 1M input tokens (better than average, median: $0.15) and $0.30 per 1M output tokens (better than average, median: $0.32), based on Mistral's API.
Best for high-volume, simple, or domain-specific tasks where cost or speed matters more than deep reasoning.
Task Fit Assessment
| Workload | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Complex reasoning & agentic workflows | suboptimal | Intelligence score 7 is better suited for straightforward tasks than multi-step reasoning. |
| High-volume chat & customer-facing | optimal | Output speed 165.6 tokens/sec is adequate for chat. |
| Latency-sensitive applications | optimal | TTFT 0.77s — among the lowest latencies, suitable for interactive latency-critical use cases. |
| Cost-sensitive pipelines | optimal | Output pricing at $0.30 is very competitive for high-volume workloads. |
Cost Pressure Analysis
Low
Pricing is competitive — input $0.10, output $0.30. Suitable for sustained production use.
Technical Specifications
Architecture and Limits
| Specification | Value | Validation Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Model type | Open weights | inferred |
| Reasoning | No | faq |
| Input modalities | Mistral Small 3 supports text input. | faq |
| Output modalities | Mistral Small 3 supports text output. | faq |
| Context window | 32k tokens | faq |
| Open weights / source | Yes, Mistral Small 3 is open weights. The model weights are publicly available and can be downloaded for self-hosting. | faq |
| Parameters | Mistral Small 3 has 24 billion parameters. | faq |
| License | Mistral Small 3 is released under the Apache 2.0 license. This license allows commercial use. | faq |
| API availability | Yes, Mistral Small 3 is available via API through 2 providers. | faq |
Evidence charts
Profile visualizations
Charts are the same canonical evidence cards previously published for this slug, contained inside the D18D page grammar.
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index by Open Weights / Proprietary
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v4.1 incorporates 9 evaluations: GDPval-AA v2, 𝜏³-Banking, Terminal-Bench v2.1, SciCode, Humanity's Last Exam, GPQA Diamond, CritPt, AA-Omniscience, AA-LCR · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v4.1 incorporates 9 evaluations: GDPval-AA v2, 𝜏³-Banking, Terminal-Bench v2.1, SciCode, Humanity's Last Exam, GPQA Diamond, CritPt, AA-Omniscience, AA-LCR · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Artificial Analysis Openness Index: Score
Openness Index assesses model openness on a 0 to 100 normalized scale (higher is more open) · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Bars intentionally show many models at once so the page feels like a benchmark report rather than a dashboard.
Intelligence
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index · Higher is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Output Speed
Output tokens per second · Higher is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Speed should be read together with latency and cost; fast output does not always mean better user-perceived performance.
Speed
Output tokens per second · Higher is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Speed should be read together with latency and cost; fast output does not always mean better user-perceived performance.
End-to-End Response Time
Seconds to output 500 tokens, including reasoning model 'thinking' time · Lower is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Bars intentionally show many models at once so the page feels like a benchmark report rather than a dashboard.
Latency: Time To First Answer Token
Seconds to first answer token received · Accounts for reasoning model 'thinking' time · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Latency includes thinking / reasoning time when applicable. Lower is better for interactive use cases.
Context Window
Context window: tokens limit · Higher is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Larger context windows enable complex multi-turn tasks but may increase latency and cost for long inputs.
Cost per Intelligence Index Task
Weighted average cost (USD) per Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index task, segmented by token type. Lower is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Ethen Gateway should route away from this model when the task is simple, repetitive, or likely to generate many output tokens.
Cost per Task
Weighted average cost (USD) per Intelligence Index task · Lower is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Ethen Gateway should route away from this model when the task is simple, repetitive, or likely to generate many output tokens.
Cost to Run Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index
Cost (USD) to run all evaluations in the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Ethen Gateway should route away from this model when the task is simple, repetitive, or likely to generate many output tokens.
Pricing: Cache Hit, Input, and Output
Price (USD per M Tokens) · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Bars intentionally show many models at once so the page feels like a benchmark report rather than a dashboard.
Time per Intelligence Index Task
Weighted average decode time (minutes) per task; excludes TTFT and overhead time · Lower is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Model Size: Total and Active Parameters
Comparison between total model parameters and parameters active during inference · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Larger models generally perform better but cost more to serve. Active parameter count matters for inference efficiency.
Methodology
Methodology & Provenance
This page is rendered from the normalized profile and page JSON for Mistral Small 3.
Benchmark values are preserved as normalized; only layout, disclosure ordering, and typography are adjusted for readability.
Frequently Asked Questions
Model FAQs & Technical Disclosures
Mistral Small 3 was released on January 30, 2025.
Mistral Small 3 was created by Mistral.
Mistral Small 3 scores 7 (estimated) on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, placing it above average among other open weight non-reasoning models of similar size (median: 6).
Mistral Small 3 generates output at 165.6 tokens per second (based on Mistral's API), which is well above average compared to other open weight non-reasoning models of similar size (median: 101.8 t/s).
Mistral Small 3 has a time to first token (TTFT) of 0.77s (based on Mistral's API), which is very competitive compared to other open weight non-reasoning models of similar size (median: 1.54s).
Mistral Small 3 costs $0.10 per 1M input tokens (better than average, median: $0.15) and $0.30 per 1M output tokens (better than average, median: $0.32), based on Mistral's API.
Mistral Small 3 costs $0.10 per 1M input tokens and $0.30 per 1M output tokens (based on Mistral's API). For a blended rate (7:2:1 cache hit/input/output ratio), this is $0.12 per 1M tokens. Pricing may vary by provider.
No, Mistral Small 3 is not a reasoning model. It provides direct responses without extended chain-of-thought reasoning.
Mistral Small 3 supports text input.
Mistral Small 3 supports text output.
No, Mistral Small 3 does not support image input. It can only process text.
No, Mistral Small 3 is not multimodal. It only supports text input.
Mistral Small 3 has a context window of 32k tokens. This determines how much text and conversation history the model can process in a single request.
Yes, Mistral Small 3 is open weights. The model weights are publicly available and can be downloaded for self-hosting.
Mistral Small 3 has 24 billion parameters.
Mistral Small 3 is released under the Apache 2.0 license. This license allows commercial use.
Mistral Small 3 achieves a score of 7 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index. This composite benchmark evaluates models across reasoning, knowledge, mathematics, and coding.
Yes, Mistral Small 3 is available via API through 2 providers.
Mistral Small 3 is available through 2 API providers.