Mistral Small 3 is $0.01 cheaper per 1M input tokens (16.7% lower; 1.2x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Mistral Small 3
Pick Mistral Small 3 for lower cost; pick Gemma 4 26B A4B only if the larger context window matters more.
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Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Mistral Small 3 for lower cost; pick Gemma 4 26B A4B only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Small 3 is estimated at $0.09 vs $0.23 for Gemma 4 26B A4B, saving $0.14 (60% lower).
Cost-first pickMistral Small 3
Context-first pickGemma 4 26B A4B
Sample savings$0.1460%
10x traffic gap$1.35
Gemma 4 26B A4B has more context, but Mistral Small 3 saves $0.14 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $1.35. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Mistral Small 3 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Gemma 4 26B A4B | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Mistral Small 3 | $0.46 | $0.29 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Mistral Small 3 | $0.39 | $0.13 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Mistral Small 3 | $1.71 | $0.45 |
Mistral Small 3 is $0.25 cheaper per 1M output tokens (75.8% lower; 4.12x difference).
Gemma 4 26B A4B has 229.38K more context (8x larger).
Mistral Small 3 is $0.14 cheaper on the standard workload (60% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.
Quick Decision
Mistral Small 3 has the lower input price; Mistral Small 3 has the lower output price; Gemma 4 26B A4B offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Mistral Small 3 is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.23 for Gemma 4 26B A4B and $0.09 for Mistral Small 3.
Choose Gemma 4 26B A4B when you care most about larger context window.
Choose Mistral Small 3 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Small 3 is estimated at $0.09 vs $0.23 for Gemma 4 26B A4B, saving $0.14 (60% lower).
- Mistral Small 3 is $0.14 cheaper on the standard workload (60% lower).
- Mistral Small 3 is $0.01 cheaper per 1M input tokens (16.7% lower; 1.2x difference).
- Mistral Small 3 is $0.25 cheaper per 1M output tokens (75.8% lower; 4.12x difference).
- Gemma 4 26B A4B has 229.38K more context (8x larger).
| Feature | Gemma 4 26B A4B (Google) | Mistral Small 3 (Mistral) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.06 | $0.05 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0.33 | $0.08 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0.23 | $0.09 |
| Context Window | 262.14K | 32.77K |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #30 | #135 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Mistral Small 3 | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Small 3 is estimated at $0.09 vs $0.23 for Gemma 4 26B A4B, saving $0.14 (60% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Mistral Small 3 | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Mistral Small 3 | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Gemma 4 26B A4B | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Gemma 4 26B A4B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Gemma 4 26B A4B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemma 4 26B A4B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemma 4 26B A4B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
- Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
- MiMo-V2.5 offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
- Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4
Cheaper alternatives
Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
Open cheapest modelsLarger context alternatives
Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.
Open largest context modelsProvider catalogs
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Open provider hubsGoogle catalog
Review all tracked Google models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.
Open Google modelsMistral catalog
Check other Mistral models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.
Open Mistral modelsGemma 4 26B A4B IT is an instruction-tuned Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) model from Google DeepMind. Despite 25.2B total parameters, only 3.8B activate per token during inference — delivering near-31B quality at...
Mistral Small 3 is a 24B-parameter language model optimized for low-latency performance across common AI tasks. Released under the Apache 2.0 license, it features both pre-trained and instruction-tuned versions designed...