Mistral Small 3.1 vs SD 3.5 Medium

Compare Mistral Small 3.1 and SD 3.5 Medium: 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 Mistral Small 3.1 SD 3.5 Medium
CategoryCompactImage
Parameters24B2.5B
Context Window128KN/A
Input Price$0.02/1M tokens$0.003/image/1M tokens
Output Price$0.04/1M tokensN/A/1M tokens
Latency~120ms~2s

Choose Mistral Small 3.1 when:

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

128K context, Low cost, Fast

Choose SD 3.5 Medium when:

  • ✓ General imagery
  • ✓ Batch generation
  • ✓ Prototyping
Key Strengths:

Good quality, Fast, Open weights

Verdict: Mistral Small 3.1 vs SD 3.5 Medium

For cost efficiency, SD 3.5 Medium wins at $0.003/image/1M input tokens. For speed, Mistral Small 3.1 is faster at ~120ms. Mistral Small 3.1 excels at Lightweight tasks while SD 3.5 Medium is better for General imagery. Both are available on XALEN through a single API — try them in the Playground to see which fits your workload.

Detailed Analysis

Pricing Comparison

Mistral Small 3.1 costs $0.02/1M input tokens and $0.04/1M output tokens. SD 3.5 Medium costs $0.003/image input and N/A output. SD 3.5 Medium is 6.7x cheaper on input tokens. XALEN offers batch processing at 50% discount on both models.

Performance & Context

Mistral Small 3.1 has a 128K context window with ~120ms latency. SD 3.5 Medium offers N/A context at ~2s. Mistral Small 3.1 has the larger context window.

Best For

Mistral Small 3.1 (Compact) is optimized for: Lightweight tasks, Classification, Simple generation. SD 3.5 Medium (Image) works best for: General imagery, Batch generation, Prototyping.

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

# Use SD 3.5 Medium
response_b = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="stable-diffusion-3-5-medium",
    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, Mistral Small 3.1 or SD 3.5 Medium?

Mistral Small 3.1 (Compact, 24B) offers 128K context. SD 3.5 Medium (Image, 2.5B) offers Good quality. Choose Mistral Small 3.1 for Lightweight tasks or SD 3.5 Medium for General imagery.

How much does Mistral Small 3.1 cost vs SD 3.5 Medium?

Mistral Small 3.1: $0.02/1M input, $0.04/1M output. SD 3.5 Medium: $0.003/image/1M input, N/A/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 Mistral Small 3.1 and SD 3.5 Medium 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.