Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Mistral Small 3.2
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 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 4.6 scores 1395 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 1190, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 84.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 58.0%.
Coding: In coding, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 91.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 70.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 79.6% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 20.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 65.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 24.0%.
Math: In math, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 88.0% on MATH compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 58.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 96.0% on GSM8K compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 80.0%.
Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 74.1% on GPQA Diamond compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 30.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 48.0% on ARC-AGI compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 10.0%.
Context: In context, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 1.0M on Context Length compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 256K.
Pricing Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.6 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 4.6 generates output at 57 tok/s compared to Mistral Small 3.2's 160 tok/s, and the time to first token is 790 ms for Claude Sonnet 4.6 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 4.6 has the edge. For those who value affordability and speed, Mistral Small 3.2 is the stronger choice.
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Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Mistral Small 3.2 — FAQ
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Mistral Small 3.2?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 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 4.6 compare to Mistral Small 3.2 for coding?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is better for coding, scoring 79.6% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 20.0%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.
Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 cheaper than Mistral Small 3.2?
Yes, Mistral Small 3.2 is cheaper. Claude Sonnet 4.6 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 4.6 or Mistral Small 3.2?
Mistral Small 3.2 is faster, generating output at 160 tok/s compared to 57 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.
What benchmarks does the Claude Sonnet 4.6 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.