Magistral Small vs Mistral Medium 3.5
Magistral Small vs Mistral Medium 3.5: Magistral Small is cheaper for input-heavy usage ($0.50/M vs $1.50/M input tokens), while Mistral Medium 3.5 is better for long-context tasks (256,000 tokens).
Direct answer: choose Magistral Small for lower token spend and choose Mistral Medium 3.5 when your workload needs longer context.
Compare input and output token pricing, context windows, and monthly cost estimates on one page so you can pick the cheaper model fast.
Cost Comparison (1000 input + 500 output tokens, 100 requests/day)
Magistral Small
Mistral Medium 3.5
Cost Differences
Mistral Medium 3.5 costs more than Magistral Small
Quick Recommendation
Winner for direct API pricing: Magistral Small. At the default workload, Magistral Small saves about $12.00/month ($146.00/year) versus Mistral Medium 3.5.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Magistral Small | Mistral Medium 3.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Mistral AI | Mistral AI |
| Input Price | $0.50/1M tokens | $1.50/1M tokens |
| Output Price | $1.50/1M tokens | $7.50/1M tokens |
| Context Window | 128,000 tokens | 256,000 tokens |
| Max Output | 16,384 tokens | 32,768 tokens |
| Category | reasoning | flagship |
| Capabilities | textreasoning | textvisioncodereasoning |
| Release Date | 12/15/2025 | 4/29/2026 |
Magistral Small vs Mistral Medium 3.5: Which Should You Choose?
Choosing between Magistral Small and Mistral Medium 3.5 depends on your priorities: cost efficiency, context length, or raw capability. Magistral Small is the more affordable option at $0.50/1M input tokens — 67% cheaper than Mistral Medium 3.5. Meanwhile, Mistral Medium 3.5 offers a significantly larger context window at 256,000 tokens vs 128,000 for Magistral Small.
These models target different tiers: Magistral Small is a reasoning model while Mistral Medium 3.5 is flagship. This means they're optimized for different workloads. Magistral Small is built for complex tasks that require deeper reasoning, while Mistral Medium 3.5 offers better value for routine operations.
Output costs matter too. Magistral Small charges $1.50/1M output tokens vs $7.50 for Mistral Medium 3.5. For generation-heavy workloads (content creation, code generation, summarization), output pricing often dominates your bill. Magistral Small has the edge here at $1.50/1M output tokens.
Multimodal capabilities: Mistral Medium 3.5 supports vision (image inputs) while Magistral Small is text-only. If your application needs image understanding, this narrows your choice.
Best Use Cases
Choose Magistral Small when:
- • Budget is a primary concern
- • You're already using Mistral AI's API ecosystem
Choose Mistral Medium 3.5 when:
- • You need a larger context window (256,000 tokens)
- • You need more capabilities (vision, code)
- • You need longer outputs (up to 32,768 tokens)
- • You're already using Mistral AI's API ecosystem
Pros and Caveats at a Glance
Magistral Small
- • Input pricing: $0.50/M tokens
- • Output pricing: $1.50/M tokens
- • Context window: 128,000 tokens
- • Max output: 16,384 tokens
Watch out for
- • Smaller context window than Mistral Medium 3.5
Mistral Medium 3.5
- • Input pricing: $1.50/M tokens
- • Output pricing: $7.50/M tokens
- • Context window: 256,000 tokens
- • Max output: 32,768 tokens
Watch out for
- • Higher input cost than Magistral Small
- • Higher output cost than Magistral Small
Try Different Scenarios
Use the calculator below to see how costs change with different usage patterns
Magistral Small (Mistral AI)
Mistral Medium 3.5 (Mistral AI)
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