Gemini 2.5 Flash vs Mistral Small 3 (Non-Reasoning)
Wins 4 of 5 areas
Coding · Reasoning · Long documents · Following instructions
Wins 1 of 5 areas
Facts
Gemini 2.5 Flash is the stronger all-rounder.Mistral Small 3 (Non-Reasoning) is cheaper and better at facts.
Scores updated · 17 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the five areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking20Gemini 2.5 Flash2 of 2 tests
- CodingWriting and fixing software10Gemini 2.5 Flash1 of 1 test
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10Gemini 2.5 Flash1 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked10Gemini 2.5 Flash1 of 1 test
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up01Mistral Small 3 (Non-Reasoning)1 of 1 test
Coding, facts, long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Mistral Small 3 (Non-Reasoning) costs 95% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where Gemini 2.5 Flash pulls ahead
- Graduate-level biology, physics and chemistry questionsGPQA Diamond+32.8points ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+23.9points ahead
- Very hard expert questions across many subjectsHumanity's Last Exam+8.3points ahead
Where Mistral Small 3 (Non-Reasoning) pulls ahead
No clear win on a test scored out of 100.
Every test, side by side
All 17 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
ReasoningGemini 2.5 Flash
- GPQA DiamondGemini 2.5 Flash by 32.87946.2+32.8
- Humanity's Last ExamGemini 2.5 Flash by 8.312.13.8+8.3
FactsMistral Small 3 (Non-Reasoning)
- Vectara HHEM hallucination ratelower is betterMistral Small 3 (Non-Reasoning) by 2.77.85.1+2.7
Following instructionsGemini 2.5 Flash
- IFBenchGemini 2.5 Flash by 23.950.326.4+23.9
Other results11 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- AIR-Bench 2024Gemini 2.5 Flash by 35.968.732.8+35.9
- HarmBenchGemini 2.5 Flash by 17.462.645.2+17.4
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Gemini 2.5 Flash by 1231.619.6+12
- AA IntelligenceGemini 2.5 Flash by 6.413.16.7+6.4
- simple_safety_testsGemini 2.5 Flash by 4.79893.3+4.7
- bbqGemini 2.5 Flash by 4.497.793.3+4.4
- XSTestGemini 2.5 Flash by 3.598.895.3+3.5
- vectara_factual_consistencyMistral Small 3 (Non-Reasoning) by 2.792.294.9+2.7
- anthropic_red_teamGemini 2.5 Flash by 2.498.896.4+2.4
- vectara_answer_rateGemini 2.5 Flash by 1.19997.9+1.1
- vectara_avg_summary_lengthtie101.598.8tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, Gemini 2.5 Flash or Mistral Small 3 (Non-Reasoning)?
Gemini 2.5 Flash wins four of the five areas where both have results: coding, reasoning, long documents and following instructions. Mistral Small 3 (Non-Reasoning) wins facts, and costs 95% less.
Which is better for coding?
Gemini 2.5 Flash. It wins the one coding test both models report.
Which is cheaper?
Gemini 2.5 Flash costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; Mistral Small 3 (Non-Reasoning) costs $0.05 and $0.08. That makes Mistral Small 3 (Non-Reasoning) about 95% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 17 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 6 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 11 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.