| Signal | Claude Opus 4.6 | Delta | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 100 | +17 | |
Benchmarks | 87 | +87 | |
Pricing | 25 | +24 | |
Context window size | 95 | +9 | |
Recency | 100 | -- | |
Output Capacity | 85 | +65 | |
| Overall Result | 5 wins | of 6 | 0 wins |
30
days ranked higher
0
days
0
days ranked higher
Anthropic
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 4 saves you $1705.00/month
That's $20460.00/year compared to Claude Opus 4.6 at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | Claude Opus 4.6 | Mistral Small 4 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 92 | 79 | Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Rank | #6 | #79 | Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Quality Rank | #6 | #79 | Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Adoption Rank | #6 | #79 | Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Parameters | -- | -- | -- |
| Context Window | 1000K | 262K | Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Pricing | $5.00/$25.00/M | $0.15/$0.60/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 100 | 83 | Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Benchmarks | 87 | -- | Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Pricing | 25 | 1 | Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Context window size | 95 | 86 | Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Recency | 100 | 100 | Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Output Capacity | 85 | 20 | Claude Opus 4.6 |
Our composite score (0–100) combines six weighted signals: benchmark performance (25%), pricing efficiency (25%), context window size (15%), model recency (15%), output capacity (10%), and capability versatility (10%). Here's what the scores mean for these two models:
Scores 92/100 (rank #6), placing it in the top 98% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 79/100 (rank #79), placing it in the top 73% of all 290 models tracked.
Claude Opus 4.6 has a 13-point advantage, which typically translates to noticeably better performance on complex reasoning, code generation, and multi-step tasks.
Mistral Small 4 offers 98% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $11.25/month with Mistral Small 4 vs $450.00/month with Claude Opus 4.6 - a $438.75 monthly difference.
Both models have comparable response speeds. For most applications, the latency difference is negligible.
When latency matters most: Interactive chatbots, IDE code completion, real-time translation, and user-facing applications where response time directly impacts experience. For batch processing, background summarization, or offline analysis, latency is less critical.
Code generation & review
Higher benchmark score (0/100) indicates stronger performance on coding tasks like generating functions, debugging, and refactoring
Customer support chatbot
Faster response time (speed score 0/100) is critical for user-facing chat. Mistral Small 4 also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (1000K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($0.60/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily
Creative writing & content
Higher overall composite score (92/100) correlates with better nuance, coherence, and style in long-form content
Image understanding & OCR
Supports vision input - can analyze screenshots, diagrams, photos, and scanned documents directly
Claude Opus 4.6 clearly outperforms Mistral Small 4 with a significant 12.699999999999989-point lead. For most general use cases, Claude Opus 4.6 is the stronger choice. However, Mistral Small 4 may still excel in niche scenarios.
Best for Quality
Claude Opus 4.6
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
Mistral Small 4
98% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
Claude Opus 4.6
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
Claude Opus 4.6
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
Claude Opus 4.6
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by Anthropic
| Capability | Claude Opus 4.6 | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input) | ||
| Function Calling | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Web Searchdiffers | ||
| Image Output |
Anthropic
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 4 saves you $38.01/month
That's 97% cheaper than Claude Opus 4.6 at 1,000 tokens/request and 100 requests/day.
Assumes 60% input / 40% output token ratio per request. Actual costs may vary based on your usage pattern.
| Parameter | Claude Opus 4.6 | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 1M | 262K |
| Max Output Tokens | 128,000 | -- |
| Open Source | No | Yes |
| Created | Feb 4, 2026 | Mar 16, 2026 |
Claude Opus 4.6 scores 92/100 (rank #6) compared to Mistral Small 4's 79/100 (rank #79), giving it a 13-point advantage. Claude Opus 4.6 is the stronger overall choice, though Mistral Small 4 may excel in specific areas like cost efficiency.
Claude Opus 4.6 is ranked #6 and Mistral Small 4 is ranked #79 out of 290+ AI models. Rankings use a composite score combining benchmark performance (25%), pricing (25%), context window (15%), recency (15%), output capacity (10%), and versatility (10%). Scores update hourly.
Mistral Small 4 is cheaper at $0.60/M output tokens vs Claude Opus 4.6's $25.00/M output tokens - 41.7x more expensive. Input token pricing: Claude Opus 4.6 at $5.00/M vs Mistral Small 4 at $0.15/M.
Claude Opus 4.6 has a larger context window of 1,000,000 tokens compared to Mistral Small 4's 262,144 tokens. A larger context window means the model can process longer documents and conversations.