GPT-4o vs Mistral Small 3.1

Compare GPT-4o and Mistral Small 3.1: pricing, performance, context window, latency, and best use cases. Side-by-side comparison on XALEN.

Updated 2026-05-21 · By Abhishek Raj · Our methodology

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Feature GPT-4o Mistral Small 3.1
CategoryFrontierCompact
Parameters~1T24B
Context Window128K128K
Input Price$0.05/1M tokens$0.02/1M tokens
Output Price$0.15/1M tokens$0.04/1M tokens
Latency~400ms~120ms

Choose GPT-4o when:

  • ✓ Chart image analysis
  • ✓ Multimodal Q&A
  • ✓ Content generation
Key Strengths:

Multimodal, Fast for frontier, Strong reasoning

Choose Mistral Small 3.1 when:

  • ✓ Lightweight tasks
  • ✓ Classification
  • ✓ Simple generation
Key Strengths:

128K context, Low cost, Fast

Verdict: GPT-4o vs Mistral Small 3.1

For cost efficiency, Mistral Small 3.1 wins at $0.02/1M input tokens. For speed, Mistral Small 3.1 is faster at ~120ms. GPT-4o excels at Chart image analysis while Mistral Small 3.1 is better for Lightweight tasks. Both are available on XALEN through a single API — try them in the Playground to see which fits your workload.

Detailed Analysis

Pricing Comparison

GPT-4o costs $0.05/1M input tokens and $0.15/1M output tokens. Mistral Small 3.1 costs $0.02 input and $0.04 output. Mistral Small 3.1 is 2.5x cheaper on input tokens. XALEN offers batch processing at 50% discount on both models.

Performance & Context

GPT-4o has a 128K context window with ~400ms latency. Mistral Small 3.1 offers 128K context at ~120ms. Both have identical context windows.

Best For

GPT-4o (Frontier) is optimized for: Chart image analysis, Multimodal Q&A, Content generation. Mistral Small 3.1 (Compact) works best for: Lightweight tasks, Classification, Simple generation.

Try Both on XALEN

Both models are available through XALEN's OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between them by changing the model parameter:

from xalen import XALEN

client = XALEN(api_key="xln_test_YOUR_KEY")

# Use GPT-4o
response_a = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="gpt-4o",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

# Use Mistral Small 3.1
response_b = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="mistral-small-3-1",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

Start Building with XALEN

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Get API Key Try in Playground

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, GPT-4o or Mistral Small 3.1?

GPT-4o (Frontier, ~1T) offers Multimodal. Mistral Small 3.1 (Compact, 24B) offers 128K context. Choose GPT-4o for Chart image analysis or Mistral Small 3.1 for Lightweight tasks.

How much does GPT-4o cost vs Mistral Small 3.1?

GPT-4o: $0.05/1M input, $0.15/1M output. Mistral Small 3.1: $0.02/1M input, $0.04/1M output. Both available on XALEN with batch processing at 50% discount.

Can I use both models on XALEN?

Yes. XALEN provides 200+ models through a single OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between GPT-4o and Mistral Small 3.1 by changing the model parameter. No code changes needed.

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Last updated: 2026-05-21. Pricing and specifications may change. Check pricing page for latest rates.