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Head-to-head comparison

Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Mistral Medium 3.5

Gemma 4 26B A4B (Google) and Mistral Medium 3.5 (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 17 August 2026

As of 17 August 2026, Gemma 4 26B A4B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#37 vs #40); Gemma 4 26B A4B is 22.1× cheaper per output token ($0.34/1M vs $7.50/1M); and Gemma 4 26B A4B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Gemma 4 26B A4B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #37 against #40 (56.5 vs 54.0 points).
  • API cost matters — $0.34/1M output tokens against $7.50/1M, about 22.1× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.07/1M against $1.50/1M.
  • you want to self-host: Gemma 4 26B A4B ships open weights while Mistral Medium 3.5 is api only.
  • you want provider choice — 8 listed API providers against 1.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1481 against 1479.

Choose Mistral Medium 3.5 if…

  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 30.4 against 26.1.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Mistral Medium 3.5 was listed 30 April 2026, Gemma 4 26B A4B 3 April 2026.

Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Mistral Medium 3.5: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Gemma 4 26B A4B and Mistral Medium 3.5
FieldGemma 4 26B A4BGoogleMistral Medium 3.5Mistral AI
ModelCap Index position#37#40
Index score56.554.0
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.07$1.50
Output price / 1M tokens$0.34$7.50
Context window262K tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens16K—
API providers listed81
Weight accessOpen weightsAPI only
Input modalitiesImage, Text, VideoText, Image, File
First listed3 April 202630 April 2026
PublisherGoogleMistral AI

Evidence: 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards · 4 public benchmark observations across 4 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Mistral Medium 3.5

Public benchmark boards where Gemma 4 26B A4B or Mistral Medium 3.5 has a published result
BoardGemma 4 26B A4BMistral Medium 3.5Leads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14811465–149614791468–1490Gemma 4 26B A4B
LMArena AgentLMArena—-7.0%-9.0%–-5.0%Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis26.1intelligence-index30.4intelligence-indexMistral Medium 3.5

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 4 26B A4B vs Mistral Medium 3.5: common questions

Is Gemma 4 26B A4B better than Mistral Medium 3.5?

Gemma 4 26B A4B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #37 against #40. 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.

Is Gemma 4 26B A4B cheaper than Mistral Medium 3.5?

Gemma 4 26B A4B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.34/1M against $7.50/1M. Input tokens are $0.07/1M for Gemma 4 26B A4B and $1.50/1M for Mistral Medium 3.5. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Gemma 4 26B A4B or Mistral Medium 3.5?

Both publish a 262K-token context window.

Which is better for coding, Gemma 4 26B A4B or Mistral Medium 3.5?

Arena coding: Gemma 4 26B A4B 1481, Mistral Medium 3.5 1479 — Gemma 4 26B A4B leads.

Are Gemma 4 26B A4B and Mistral Medium 3.5 open-weight models?

Gemma 4 26B A4B: Open weights. Mistral Medium 3.5: API only. 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 4 26B A4B and Mistral Medium 3.5?

ModelCap currently lists 8 API providers for Gemma 4 26B A4B and 1 for Mistral Medium 3.5, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Mistral Medium 3.5 comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 17 August 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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