API cost decision in 10 seconds

Mistral Small 3 vs GLM 5V Turbo

Pick Mistral Small 3 for lower cost; pick GLM 5V Turbo only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated:  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 GLM 5V Turbo 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 $3.2 for GLM 5V Turbo, saving $3.11 (97.2% lower).

Cost-first pickMistral Small 3
Context-first pickGLM 5V Turbo
Sample savings$3.1197.2%
10x traffic gap$31.1

GLM 5V Turbo has more context, but Mistral Small 3 saves $3.11 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $31.1. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Mistral Small 3 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickMistral Small 3GLM 5V Turbo
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputMistral Small 3$0.29$8
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputMistral Small 3$0.13$5.2
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputMistral Small 3$0.45$21.2
Cheaper input Mistral Small 3 $0.05 vs $1.2 / 1M

Mistral Small 3 is $1.15 cheaper per 1M input tokens (95.8% lower; 24x difference).

Cheaper output Mistral Small 3 $0.08 vs $4 / 1M

Mistral Small 3 is $3.92 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98% lower; 50x difference).

Larger context GLM 5V Turbo 32.77K vs 202.75K

GLM 5V Turbo has 169.98K more context (6.19x larger).

Sample workload Mistral Small 3 $0.09 vs $3.2

Mistral Small 3 is $3.11 cheaper on the standard workload (97.2% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Mistral Small 3 Calculating… Estimated API cost
GLM 5V Turbo Calculating… Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

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

Verdict

Mistral Small 3 has the lower input price; Mistral Small 3 has the lower output price; GLM 5V Turbo 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 $0.09 for Mistral Small 3 and $3.2 for GLM 5V Turbo.

Best Fit

Choose Mistral Small 3 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose GLM 5V Turbo when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Small 3 is estimated at $0.09 vs $3.2 for GLM 5V Turbo, saving $3.11 (97.2% lower).
  • Mistral Small 3 is $3.11 cheaper on the standard workload (97.2% lower).
  • Mistral Small 3 is $1.15 cheaper per 1M input tokens (95.8% lower; 24x difference).
  • Mistral Small 3 is $3.92 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98% lower; 50x difference).
  • GLM 5V Turbo has 169.98K more context (6.19x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureMistral Small 3
(Mistral)		GLM 5V Turbo
(Z.ai)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0.05$1.2
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$0.08$4
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$0.09$3.2
Context Window32.77K202.75K
Release Date
Popularity#135#136

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionMistral Small 3On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Small 3 is estimated at $0.09 vs $3.2 for GLM 5V Turbo, saving $3.11 (97.2% lower).
High-volume input processingMistral Small 3Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsMistral Small 3Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workGLM 5V TurboA larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • Mistral Nemo can replace Mistral Small 3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.04.
  • GLM 4.5 Air (free) can replace GLM 5V Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • GLM 4 32B can replace GLM 5V Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.15.
  • GLM 4.7 Flash can replace GLM 5V Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.26.
Larger context near this budget
  • Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 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.

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Open cheapest models

Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

Mistral catalog

Review all tracked Mistral models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

Open Mistral models

Z.ai catalog

Check other Z.ai models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Z.ai models
Mistral Small 3

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...

GLM 5V Turbo

GLM-5V-Turbo is Z.ai’s first native multimodal agent foundation model, built for vision-based coding and agent-driven tasks. It natively handles image, video, and text inputs, excels at long-horizon planning, complex coding,...