Mistral Small 4 is $0.11 cheaper per 1M input tokens (42.3% lower; 1.73x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Mistral Small 4 vs Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15
Pick Mistral Small 4 for lower cost; pick Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 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 4 for lower cost; pick Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Small 4 is estimated at $0.45 vs $1.04 for Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15, saving $0.59 (56.7% lower).
Cost-first pickMistral Small 4
Context-first pickQwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15
Sample savings$0.5956.7%
10x traffic gap$5.9
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 has more context, but Mistral Small 4 saves $0.59 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $5.9. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Mistral Small 4 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Mistral Small 4 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Mistral Small 4 | $1.05 | $2.08 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Mistral Small 4 | $0.75 | $1.82 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Mistral Small 4 | $3.15 | $8.06 |
Mistral Small 4 is $0.96 cheaper per 1M output tokens (61.5% lower; 2.6x difference).
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).
Mistral Small 4 is $0.59 cheaper on the standard workload (56.7% 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 4 has the lower input price; Mistral Small 4 has the lower output price; Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Mistral Small 4 is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.45 for Mistral Small 4 and $1.04 for Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15.
Choose Mistral Small 4 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
Choose Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 when you care most about larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Small 4 is estimated at $0.45 vs $1.04 for Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15, saving $0.59 (56.7% lower).
- Mistral Small 4 is $0.59 cheaper on the standard workload (56.7% lower).
- Mistral Small 4 is $0.11 cheaper per 1M input tokens (42.3% lower; 1.73x difference).
- Mistral Small 4 is $0.96 cheaper per 1M output tokens (61.5% lower; 2.6x difference).
- Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).
| Feature | Mistral Small 4 (Mistral) | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.15 | $0.26 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0.6 | $1.56 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0.45 | $1.04 |
| Context Window | 262.14K | 1M |
| Release Date |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Mistral Small 4 | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Small 4 is estimated at $0.45 vs $1.04 for Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15, saving $0.59 (56.7% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Mistral Small 4 | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Mistral Small 4 | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Mistral Nemo can replace Mistral Small 4 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.04.
- Mistral Small 3 can replace Mistral Small 4 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
- Ministral 3 3B 2512 can replace Mistral Small 4 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.15.
- Mistral Small 3.2 24B can replace Mistral Small 4 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.17.
- 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.
- DeepSeek V4 Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.87 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
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