Claude Opus 4.5 vs Mistral Small 3.2
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
Claude Opus 4.5 by Anthropic wins on 9 of 14 benchmarks against Mistral Small 3.2 by Mistral, which leads on 5. This head-to-head comparison covers coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing metrics from our benchmark data.
Category-by-Category Breakdown
General Intelligence: In general intelligence, Claude Opus 4.5 scores 1468 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 1190, while Claude Opus 4.5 scores 89.5% on MMLU-Pro compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 58.0%.
Coding: In coding, Claude Opus 4.5 scores 92.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 70.0%, while Claude Opus 4.5 scores 80.9% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 20.0%, while Claude Opus 4.5 scores 70.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 24.0%.
Math: In math, Claude Opus 4.5 scores 90.0% on MATH compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 58.0%, while Claude Opus 4.5 scores 96.5% on GSM8K compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 80.0%.
Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude Opus 4.5 scores 87.0% on GPQA Diamond compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 30.0%, while Claude Opus 4.5 scores 57.0% on ARC-AGI compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 10.0%.
Context: In context, Mistral Small 3.2 scores 256K on Context Length compared to Claude Opus 4.5's 200K.
Pricing Comparison
Claude Opus 4.5 costs $5.0/1M input tokens and $25.0/1M output tokens, while Mistral Small 3.2 costs $0.07/1M input and $0.20/1M output. Mistral Small 3.2 is the more affordable option for API usage.
Speed Comparison
Claude Opus 4.5 generates output at 50 tok/s compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 160 tok/s, and the time to first token is 1700 ms for Claude Opus 4.5 versus 120 ms for Mistral Small 3.2. Mistral Small 3.2 delivers faster throughput.
Verdict
For developers prioritizing coding and general intelligence and math, Claude Opus 4.5 has the edge. For those who value affordability and speed, Mistral Small 3.2 is the stronger choice.
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Claude Opus 4.5 vs Mistral Small 3.2 — FAQ
Which is better, Claude Opus 4.5 or Mistral Small 3.2?
Claude Opus 4.5 wins on more benchmarks overall (9 vs 5). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.
How does Claude Opus 4.5 compare to Mistral Small 3.2 for coding?
Claude Opus 4.5 is better for coding, scoring 80.9% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 20.0%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.
Is Claude Opus 4.5 cheaper than Mistral Small 3.2?
Yes, Mistral Small 3.2 is cheaper. Claude Opus 4.5 costs $5.0/1M input and $25.0/1M output tokens. Mistral Small 3.2 costs $0.07/1M input and $0.20/1M output tokens.
Which is faster, Claude Opus 4.5 or Mistral Small 3.2?
Mistral Small 3.2 is faster, generating output at 160 tok/s compared to 50 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.
What benchmarks does the Claude Opus 4.5 vs Mistral Small 3.2 comparison cover?
This comparison covers 14 benchmarks including Chatbot Arena ELO, MMLU-Pro, HumanEval+, MATH, GPQA Diamond, SWE-bench Verified, Output Speed, LiveCodeBench, and more. Metrics span general intelligence, coding, math, reasoning, speed, and cost categories.