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  5. Claude Sonnet 4vsMistral Small 4
Updated Mar 2026

Claude Sonnet 4vsMistral Small 4

Mistral Small 4 is cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4 at $0.15/M vs $3/M input tokens.

Claude Sonnet 4 and Mistral Small 4 compared across 53 shared prompts
SpecClaude Sonnet 4Mistral Small 4
Input price$3/M tokens$0.15/M tokens
Output price$15/M tokens$0.6/M tokens
Context window200K tokens262K tokens
WeightsClosedOpen
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedMay 2025Mar 2026
Side by side

Same prompt, both answers

Opening lines from 6 of the 53 prompts both answered. Formatting stripped, words untouched.

Simple 7-Ingredient Recipe

Create a simple recipe for a delicious dish (sweet or savory) using only 7 common pantry ingredients. Include a creative name for the dish…

Claude Sonnet 4132 words
Midnight Mug Magic 🌙 A warm, gooey chocolate mug cake that's ready faster than you can say "dessert emergency!" Ingredients (7 pantry staples): 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour 4 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 3 tablespoons milk 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Pinch of salt…
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Mistral Small 4150 words
Golden Honey & Cinnamon Couscous A quick, fragrant dish with warm spices and a touch of sweetness—perfect as a side or light meal! Ingredients (7): 1 cup couscous (uncooked) 1 ¼ cups water or broth 2 tbsp honey 2 tbsp butter or olive oil ½ tsp ground cinnamon ¼ cup raisins or chopped nuts (optional but recommended)…
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Character Voice Test

Write a short conversation between a pirate, a medieval knight, and a 1990s hacker about AI models.

Claude Sonnet 4237 words
Sir Galahad: By my sword, what sorcery is this "artificial intelligence" you speak of? 'Tis surely the work of dark wizards! Captain Blackbeard: Arrr, ye landlubber! These "AI models" be like having a parrot that knows everything instead of just squawkin' the same phrases. I could use one to find buried treasure!
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Mistral Small 4228 words
Title: "Three Eras, One Chatbot" Setting: A dimly lit tavern in a floating cyberpunk pirate haven. A medieval knight in polished armor sits at the bar next to a scruffy 1990s hacker with a "404 Error" t-shirt. A cybernetic parrot squawks in the corner. A holographic AI assistant flickers to life between them.
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Michelin Star Recipe Design

Design an innovative recipe for a multi-component dish worthy of a Michelin 3-star restaurant. The recipe should feature an unusual…

Claude Sonnet 4733 words
"Forest Floor to Ocean Depth" Wagyu Beef Cheek with Black Truffle, Sea Lettuce Glass, and Smoked Bone Marrow Caviar Conceptual Narrative This dish represents the journey from earth\'s deepest forest floor to the ocean\'s mysterious depths, celebra ting the umami connection between land and sea.
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Mistral Small 4960 words
Dish Title: "Echoes of the Abyss" Concept: A multi-sensory ode to deep-sea hydrothermal vents, where hyperthermophilic organisms thrive in extreme conditions. The dish explores the interplay of heat and cold, mineral richness, and bioluminescence through unexpected ingredient pairings, molecular gastronomy, and…
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Historical Counterfactual Analysis

If the transistor had been invented in 1920 instead of 1947, trace the likely technological, economic, and geopolitical implications through…

Claude Sonnet 4892 words
The 1920 Transistor: A Technological Butterfly Effect Immediate Effects (1920-1930) First-Order Effects: Bell Labs (or similar research institution) achieves transistor breakthrough in 1920 Initial applications focus on telephone switching and radio amplification Vacuum tube industry faces early disruption, though…
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Mistral Small 41,637 words
If the transistor had been invented in 1920 instead of 1947, the technological, economic, and geopolitical landscape of the world by 1980 would look dramatically different. Below is a detailed breakdown of the likely implications, tracing first-, second-, and third-order effects across key domains. 1.
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Adversarial Contract Review

Here is a contract for a software consulting engagement: --- SOFTWARE CONSULTING AGREEMENT This Agreement is entered into between TechCorp…

Claude Sonnet 4277 words
This contract is heavily skewed against the contractor with multiple exploitative clauses. Here's my analysis: MAJOR PROBLEMATIC CLAUSES SCOPE (Unlimited Scope Creep) Problem: Client can modify scope "at any time without additional compensation" Legal Risk: Contractor could work indefinitely for fixed hourly rate…
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Mistral Small 41,392 words
This contract contains several highly unfavorable clauses for the contractor, including unilateral termination rights, broad liability exposure, perpetual IP assignment, and restrictive non-compete terms. Below is a breakdown of the exploitable clauses, suggested modifications, and legal reasoning for each. 1.
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Satirical Fake News Headline

Generate a satirical news headline about AI taking over a completely unexpected industry.

Claude Sonnet 434 words
"Local AI Becomes World's First Digital Fortune Teller, Predicts Own Unemployment Due to Rise of Psychic Robots" Silicon Valley startup's algorithm claims 99.7% accuracy in crystal ball readings, charges $2.99 per digital palm scan
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Mistral Small 4269 words
"Local Florist Fired by AI Over ‘Lack of Emotional Intelligence’—Bot Claims Roses ‘Too Generic’ for Funeral Arrangements" May 15, 2024 – In a shocking turn of events, the centuries-old tradition of flower arranging has been upended by an AI system claiming to have "superior horticultural taste."
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Our Verdict
Claude Sonnet 4
Claude Sonnet 4
Mistral Small 4
Mistral Small 4Runner-up

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Claude Sonnet 4 has the edge: bigger model tier, major provider backing.

Mistral Small 4 costs 25x less per token.

Too close to call

Reviewing agent-written code?See a Brief PR report

API pricing

Cost per 1M tokens

Claude Sonnet 4
Input
$3.00
Output
$15.00
Mistral Small 4
Input
$0.15
20× cheaper
Output
$0.60
25× cheaper

Mistral Small 4 is cheaper on both: 20× input, 25× output.

Where to run it

3 hosts

Claude Sonnet 42 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
Amazon Bedrock$3.00 in·$15.00 out·200k·100% upGoogle Vertex AI$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M—
Mistral Small 41 host
HostInOutContextUptime
Mistral$0.15 in·$0.60 out·262k·99.6% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 20 Sep 2026.

Writing DNA

Style Comparison

Similarity
42%

Claude Sonnet 4 uses 4.6x more sentence length

Claude Sonnet 4
Mistral Small 4
64%Vocabulary50%
81wSentence Length18w
0.56Hedging0.58
4.5Bold9.0
6.6Lists5.6
0.70Emoji0.19
1.59Headings1.10
0.20Transitions0.12
Based on 28 + 23 text responses
Research

What we learned reading every model

FAQ

Common questions

Claude Sonnet 4 is developed by Anthropic while Mistral Small 4 is developed by Mistral AI. Claude Sonnet 4 has a 200K token context window vs Mistral Small 4's 262K. You can compare their actual outputs across 53 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

It depends on your use case. Claude Sonnet 4 and Mistral Small 4 each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 53 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

Claude Sonnet 4 costs $3/M input tokens and Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15/M input tokens. Mistral Small 4 is $2.85/M cheaper per input. Check their side-by-side outputs on Rival to see if the price difference is justified by quality.

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Claude Sonnet 4 and Mistral Small 4 across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.

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Model pages

Claude Sonnet 4 logo
Claude Sonnet 459 outputs, specs and price
Mistral Small 4 logo
Mistral Small 453 outputs, specs and price
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