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Head-to-head comparison

Gemma 3 4B vs Mistral Small 4

Gemma 3 4B (Google) and Mistral Small 4 (Mistral AI) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 15 September 2026

As of 15 September 2026, Mistral Small 4 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#117 vs #177); Gemma 3 4B is 6× cheaper per output token ($0.10/1M vs $0.60/1M); Mistral Small 4 offers the longer context window (262K vs 131K tokens); and Mistral Small 4 ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Gemma 3 4B if…

  • API cost matters — $0.10/1M output tokens against $0.60/1M, about 6× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.05/1M against $0.15/1M.

Choose Mistral Small 4 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #117 against #177 (40.7 vs 19.6 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 262K tokens against 131K.
  • you want to self-host: Mistral Small 4 ships open weights while Gemma 3 4B is gated access.
  • you want provider choice — 2 listed API providers against 1.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Mistral Small 4 was listed 16 March 2026, Gemma 3 4B 13 March 2025.

Gemma 3 4B vs Mistral Small 4: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Gemma 3 4B and Mistral Small 4
FieldGemma 3 4BGoogleMistral Small 4Mistral AI
ModelCap Index position#177#117
Index score19.640.7
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.05$0.15
Output price / 1M tokens$0.10$0.60
Context window131K tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens16K210K
API providers listed12
Weight accessGated accessOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, ImageText, Image
First listed13 March 202516 March 2026
PublisherGoogleMistral AI

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Gemma 3 4B vs Mistral Small 4

Public benchmark boards where Gemma 3 4B or Mistral Small 4 has a published result
BoardGemma 3 4BMistral Small 4Leads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)12741250–1297—Only one result
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)19.6Prompt—Only one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—11.5intelligence-index:v4.3:reasoning-unspecifiedOnly one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Gemma 3 4B vs Mistral Small 4: common questions

Is Gemma 3 4B better than Mistral Small 4?

Mistral Small 4 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 15 September 2026: #117 against #177. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is Gemma 3 4B cheaper than Mistral Small 4?

Gemma 3 4B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.10/1M against $0.60/1M. Input tokens are $0.05/1M for Gemma 3 4B and $0.15/1M for Mistral Small 4. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $0.15 for Gemma 3 4B versus $0.60 for Mistral Small 4. Gemma 3 4B costs 75.0% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.

Which has the bigger context window, Gemma 3 4B or Mistral Small 4?

Mistral Small 4 has the larger context window: 262K tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, Gemma 3 4B or Mistral Small 4?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are Gemma 3 4B and Mistral Small 4 open-weight models?

Gemma 3 4B: Gated access. Mistral Small 4: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Gemma 3 4B and Mistral Small 4?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Gemma 3 4B and 2 for Mistral Small 4, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Gemma 3 4B vs Mistral Small 4 comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 15 September 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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