Mixtral 8x7BvsMistral Small
Mistral AI vs Mistral AI — Side-by-side model comparison
Head-to-Head Comparison
| Metric | Mixtral 8x7B | Mistral Small |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | ||
| Arena Rank | — | #19 |
| Context Window | 32K | 32K |
| Input Pricing | Free (open)/1M tokens | $0.20/1M tokens |
| Output Pricing | Free (open)/1M tokens | $0.60/1M tokens |
| Parameters | 56B (13B active) | 22B |
| Open Source | Yes | Yes |
| Best For | Efficient inference, multilingual, coding | Fast inference, cost-effective tasks, chat |
| Release Date | Dec 11, 2023 | Sep 18, 2024 |
Mixtral 8x7B
Mixtral 8x7B is Mistral AI's pioneering mixture-of-experts model that proved sparse architectures could deliver GPT-3.5 level performance while using only 13 billion active parameters per token. Its release via torrent was a landmark moment for open-source AI, demonstrating that a European startup could produce models competitive with Silicon Valley's best.
View Mistral AI profile →Mistral Small
Mistral Small is Mistral AI's efficient model optimized for low-latency, cost-effective deployments. At 22 billion parameters with a 32K context window, it delivers strong performance for everyday tasks including summarization, classification, and conversational AI. It offers an excellent balance between capability and cost, making it suitable for high-volume production applications where fast response times matter.
View Mistral AI profile →Key Differences: Mixtral 8x7B vs Mistral Small
Mixtral 8x7B has 56B (13B active) parameters vs Mistral Small's 22B, which affects inference speed and capability.
When to use Mixtral 8x7B
- +Your use case involves efficient inference, multilingual, coding
When to use Mistral Small
- +Your use case involves fast inference, cost-effective tasks, chat
The Verdict
Mistral Small wins our head-to-head comparison with 3 out of 5 category wins. It's the stronger choice for fast inference, cost-effective tasks, chat, though Mixtral 8x7B holds an edge in efficient inference, multilingual, coding.
Last compared: March 2026 · Data sourced from public benchmarks and official pricing pages