Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Mistral Small 3.2
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
Claude Sonnet 4.5 by Anthropic wins on 10 of 14 benchmarks against Mistral Small 3.2 by Mistral, which leads on 4. 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 Sonnet 4.5 scores 1380 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 1190, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 83.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 58.0%.
Coding: In coding, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 90.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 70.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 77.2% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 20.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 62.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 24.0%.
Math: In math, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 87.0% on MATH compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 58.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 95.5% on GSM8K compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 80.0%.
Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 83.4% on GPQA Diamond compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 30.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 45.0% on ARC-AGI compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 10.0%.
Context: In context, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 1.0M on Context Length compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 256K.
Pricing Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $3.0/1M input tokens and $15.0/1M 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 Sonnet 4.5 generates output at 67 tok/s compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 160 tok/s, and the time to first token is 1170 ms for Claude Sonnet 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 Sonnet 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 Sonnet 4.5 vs Mistral Small 3.2 — FAQ
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Mistral Small 3.2?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 wins on more benchmarks overall (10 vs 4). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.
How does Claude Sonnet 4.5 compare to Mistral Small 3.2 for coding?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is better for coding, scoring 77.2% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 20.0%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.
Is Claude Sonnet 4.5 cheaper than Mistral Small 3.2?
Yes, Mistral Small 3.2 is cheaper. Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $3.0/1M input and $15.0/1M output tokens. Mistral Small 3.2 costs $0.07/1M input and $0.20/1M output tokens.
Which is faster, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Mistral Small 3.2?
Mistral Small 3.2 is faster, generating output at 160 tok/s compared to 67 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.
What benchmarks does the Claude Sonnet 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.