Mistral Small 4 vs o4 Mini
Complete pricing and performance comparison between Mistral's Mistral Small 4 and OpenAI's o4 Mini.
Quick Verdict
Cheaper
Mistral Small 4
7.3x cheaper input, 7.3x cheaper output
Larger Context
Mistral Small 4
256K vs 200K
Pricing Comparison
| Spec | Mistral Small 4 | o4 Mini | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provider | Mistral | OpenAI | |
| Input / 1M tokens | $0.15 | $1.1 | Mistral Small 4 is 86% more expensive |
| Output / 1M tokens | $0.6 | $4.4 | Mistral Small 4 is 86% more expensive |
| Context Window | 256K | 200K | 1x difference |
| Max Output | 33K | 100K | |
| Tokenizer | cl100k_base | o200k_base |
Performance Benchmarks
| Metric | Mistral Small 4 | o4 Mini | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality Index | -- | 33 | N/A |
| Output Speed | -- | 148 tok/s | N/A |
| Value (Quality/$) | -- | 30.1 | Higher = better value |
Benchmark data from Artificial Analysis. Quality Index is a composite score across reasoning, coding, and knowledge tasks.
Cost at Scale
Estimated cost at different usage levels (3:1 input-to-output token ratio, typical for chat).
| Usage | Mistral Small 4 | o4 Mini | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
Single request 1K in / 300 out | $0.0003 | $0.0024 | Mistral Small 4 saves $0.0021 |
10 requests 10K in / 3K out | $0.0033 | $0.024 | Mistral Small 4 saves $0.021 |
100 requests 100K in / 30K out | $0.033 | $0.242 | Mistral Small 4 saves $0.209 |
1,000 requests 1M in / 300K out | $0.330 | $2.42 | Mistral Small 4 saves $2.09 |
10,000 requests 10M in / 3M out | $3.30 | $24.20 | Mistral Small 4 saves $20.90 |
1M requests/mo 1B in / 300M out | $330.00 | $2420.00 | Mistral Small 4 saves $2090.00 |
Pros & Cons
Mistral Small 4 Strengths
- +Cheaper input tokens
- +Cheaper output tokens
- +Larger context window (256K vs 200K)
o4 Mini Strengths
- +Higher max output tokens
When to Use Each Model
Choose Mistral Small 4 for
- →Budget-conscious projects where cost is the primary factor
- →Long documents, large codebases, or multi-turn conversations
Choose o4 Mini for
- →Generating long-form content or detailed code
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper, Mistral Small 4 or o4 Mini?
For input tokens, Mistral Small 4 is 7.3x cheaper at $0.15/1M tokens. For output tokens, Mistral Small 4 is 7.3x cheaper at $0.6/1M tokens. At typical usage (1M input + 300K output), Mistral Small 4 costs $0.330 vs o4 Mini at $2.42.
What's the context window difference?
Mistral Small 4 supports 256K context (256,000 tokens), while o4 Mini supports 200K (200,000 tokens). Mistral Small 4 can handle 1x more context in a single request.
Which model has better benchmarks?
When should I choose Mistral Small 4 over o4 Mini?
Choose Mistral Small 4 when you need: Cheaper input tokens, Cheaper output tokens, Larger context window (256K vs 200K). Choose o4 Mini when you need: Higher max output tokens.
How much would 10,000 API requests cost?
At 1K input + 300 output tokens per request (typical chat): Mistral Small 4 = $3.30, o4 Mini = $24.20. At 10K input + 1K output per request (longer conversations): Mistral Small 4 = $21.00, o4 Mini = $154.00.
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