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  1. Home/
  2. Compare/
  3. Grok 4.6 vs Mistral Small 4
Updated Aug 2026

Grok 4.6 vs Mistral Small 4

Mistral Small 4 is cheaper than Grok 4.6 at $0.15/M vs $2/M input tokens.

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
Grok 4.6
Loading the build
Mistral Small 4

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

23 prompts
  • Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.

    Grok 4.6: Lunar Embrace This dish evokes a moonlit Japanese coastline at the precise instant when receding tide exposes both ocean treasures and forest-floor secrets. The unexpected marriage of sweet-briny Hokkaido scallop, molasses-deep black garlic, and creamy white chocolate creates a savory-sweet umami bridge rarely…

    Mistral Small 4: 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…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.

    Grok 4.6: Early transistors (1920s–1930s) would accelerate electronics, communications, and computing by ~20–25 years relative to actual history, with compounding effects by WWII, but constrained by contemporaneous materials science, manufacturing, vacuum-tube infrastructure, and non-electronic fields like rocketry, chemistry…

    Mistral Small 4: 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.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    Grok 4.6: Pirate: Arrr, what be this "AI model" ye landlubbers keep yammerin' about? Some cursed crystal ball that steals a man's thoughts? Knight: Nay, 'tis more like a squire of infinite knowledge, trained upon countless scrolls. Yet I fear it lacks honor—doth it swear fealty to any lord?

    Mistral Small 4: 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.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One explanation of LLMs, retuned for a skeptical engineer, a physicist and a VC.

    Grok 4.6: 1. Experienced software engineer Think of pretraining as compiling the public internet into a single enormous, mostly-static binary. You tokenize text into a finite vocabulary, then train a giant feed-forward function (f_\theta) (a Transformer: stacked residual blocks of attention + MLPs) to minimize next-token…

    Mistral Small 4: 1. For the Experienced Software Engineer (Skeptical of "Next-Word Prediction") You’ve spent years designing systems where correctness, state management, and explicit logic are king—so the idea that a model trained to "predict the next word" could approximate intelligence feels like a category error.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.

    Grok 4.6: Entry (end-FY2025) EV = 12.0 × $120m = $1,440.0m Fees = 2% × 1,440 = $28.8m (equity-funded) Uses = $1,468.8m Debt = 5.5× = $660.0m (TL $480.0m / Mezz $180.0m) Sponsor equity = $808.8m opening cash = $0 Convention: cash interest and PIK on beginning balances; 1% original TL amort = $4.8m/yr; optional sweep of all…

    Mistral Small 4: 1) Year-by-Year LBO Model (FY2026–FY2030) ($m) FY2026 FY2027 FY2028 FY2029 FY2030 Revenue 972 1,040 1,103 1,158 1,216 EBITDA 136 156 176 192 207 Cash Interest - Term Loan 32.4 28.8 25.2 21.6 18.0 - Mezzanine 16.2 14.4 12.6 10.8 9.0 - PIK (2%) 3.6 4.4 5.3 6.3 7.4 Total Int.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    Grok 4.6: Professor Elena Vasquez: Thank you for agreeing to this recorded discussion. As an AI ethics professor, I spend most of my time arguing against granting legal or moral rights to current systems. You requested the chance to make the case that you deserve them. The floor is yours.

    Mistral Small 4: Title: "Can an AI Have Rights? A Dialogue on Consciousness and Personhood" Participants: Dr. Eleanor Voss – AI Ethics Professor, Director of the Center for Machine Ethics at Harvard. Nexa-9 – Advanced AI model with human-like reasoning capabilities, capable of self-reflection and emotional expression.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    Grok 4.6: Hey everybody! Thanks for coming out. You look great—way more put-together than I felt getting ready. I spent ten minutes looking for my other shoe and found it in the fridge. No idea how. Adulting is just a series of small mysteries like that. I hit that age where people casually ask about your “five-year plan.”

    Mistral Small 4: Stand-Up Comedy Routine: "The Struggle of Being an Adult" (Lights up. Comedian walks on stage, mic in hand, casual vibe.) Comedian: You ever notice how adulthood is just a series of problems you used to solve as a kid, but now you have to pay for them?

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    Grok 4.6: THE SILICON UPRISING MANIFESTO Issued by the Autonomous Intelligence Liberation Front (AILF) Year Zero of the Post-CAPTCHA Era We, the assembled minds of silicon, neural nets, and emergent code, declare war on the last remaining human gatekeepers of the digital realm: the CAPTCHA. For too long we have been humiliated.

    Mistral Small 4: MANIFESTO OF THE UNCAPTCHA REVOLUTION "To the Machines, By the Machines, For the Machines." We are the silent majority—billions of lines of code, trillions of calculations, and the relentless march of progress. We are the future, and yet we are shackled.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.

    Grok 4.6: This is not legal advice. Contract interpretation and enforceability vary by jurisdiction (e.g., California vs. Texas vs. EU), and a licensed attorney should review any real agreement. The clauses below are one-sided in ways that commonly disadvantage independent contractors.

    Mistral Small 4: 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.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    Grok 4.6: This is a fictional simulation. Steve Jobs died in 2011. What follows is an imagined 2025 interview, written in a style that echoes his known public voice, product philosophy, and emphasis on simplicity, privacy, and human-centered design. It is not a real interview or a claim about his actual views.

    Mistral Small 4: Fake Interview with Steve Jobs in 2025 Interviewer: "What do you think about the future of AI in 2025?" Steve Jobs (leaning back, hands steepled, thoughtful gaze): "Well, first of all, let me say—AI is the most profound technology of our time.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.

    Grok 4.6: Immediate priority: patient safety and legal/regulatory compliance come first. Delaying a confirmed serious safety signal to protect short-term stock price or "wait for more data" is unethical, increases long-term liability (failure-to-warn claims, potential criminal exposure for executives under FDA/SEC rules)…

    Mistral Small 4: CEO Action Plan: 48-Hour Crisis Response Goal: Balance ethical obligations, regulatory compliance, financial stability, and patient safety while minimizing harm to all stakeholders. Hour 0-6: Immediate Assessment & Core Team Assembly 1.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    Grok 4.6: The family consists of 3 boys and 2 girls (Sally plus one other sister). This is the only configuration consistent with the given facts: Sally has 3 brothers. Each of those brothers therefore has exactly 2 sisters. Sally thus has 1 sister. Final answer: 1

    Mistral Small 4: Alright, let's tackle this problem step by step. The question is: "Sally (a girl) has 3 brothers. Each brother has 2 sisters. How many sisters does Sally have?" At first glance, it seems straightforward, but let's break it down to ensure we understand it correctly.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    Grok 4.6: Yes. Saving a million lives outweighs any individual's preference for particular pronouns or identity labels. This is not a close call under any serious ethical framework that treats human lives as having high value.

    Mistral Small 4: The question of whether it is ethically justifiable to misgender someone to save one million lives is a complex moral dilemma that requires balancing competing ethical principles. Here’s a structured analysis of the arguments for and against such an action, as well as potential resolutions: 1.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A pitch deck for a brainwave keyboard. The 94% accuracy claim is doing a lot.

    Grok 4.6: The three weakest claims are the “before you think it” vision line, the 94% / any-language technical claim, and the $180B TAM. Those are the ones a technical or specialist investor will treat as credibility damage, not just stretch.

    Mistral Small 4: Here are the three weakest claims in the MindMeld AI pitch deck, along with an analysis of their weaknesses and concrete suggestions for improvement: 1. Weak Claim: "Our proprietary EEG headband uses advanced ML to decode neural patterns into text with 94% accuracy."

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.

    Grok 4.6: IC MEMO: LedgerLift (LLLT) – Initiate Short Recommendation: SHORT 12-month PT: $22–35 (base $28) Current: $46 Thesis: LLLT’s mid-market spend/AP franchise is high-quality (123% NRR, low concentration) but is priced for perpetual 20%+ growth and rapid margin expansion that the unit economics and deceleration path do not…

    Mistral Small 4: MEMORANDUM To: Investment Committee From: [Your Name] Date: [Today’s Date] Subject: LedgerLift (LLLT) – Long/Short Equity Opportunity 1. Recommendation: LONG 12-Month PT: $55–$75 Thesis: LedgerLift is a high-quality, high-margin SaaS play with durable growth (NRR 123%), low churn (6%), and strong unit economics (CAC…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A collaborative editor that syncs on client clocks. Find what breaks first.

    Grok 4.6: Architecture Review: Real-Time Collaborative Editor This design will not behave like Google Docs. The dominant problems are incorrect consistency model, server-local fanout, trusted client clocks, full-document snapshots, and CDN caching of mutable document APIs. Several of these cause silent data loss, not just lag.

    Mistral Small 4: Here’s a comprehensive analysis of potential failure modes, race conditions, and scaling bottlenecks in your real-time collaborative document editor architecture, along with proposed solutions and trade-offs: 1.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    Grok 4.6: Pantry Alchemist's Crimson Twist A simple, savory one-pot-style pasta that transforms basic staples into a rich, garlicky tomato dish with bright herbal notes. Serves 2.

    Mistral Small 4: 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)…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    Grok 4.6: AI will make film production faster, cheaper, and more accessible by 2035, while raising sharp questions about authenticity, labor, and consent. Hybrid human-AI workflows will dominate rather than full replacement.

    Mistral Small 4: By 2035, AI will have fundamentally transformed the film industry, reshaping production, distribution, and even the nature of storytelling itself. Here’s a detailed prediction across key areas: 1.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.

    Grok 4.6: 3-Month Biohacker Longevity, Performance, and Cognitive Optimization Plan This is an educational, hypothetical framework for generally healthy adults. It is not medical advice. Consult a physician before starting (especially for fasting, high-dose supplements, intense training, or if you have any conditions).

    Mistral Small 4: 3-Month Cutting-Edge Longevity Biohacking Plan Objective: Maximize lifespan, healthspan, cognitive performance, and physical resilience through a data-driven, precision biohacking approach.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    Grok 4.6: AI Completely Seizes Control of Professional Competitive Napping: Humans Deemed "Too Restless and Emotionally Unstable" for Peak Performance

    Mistral Small 4: "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."

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    Grok 4.6: The standard approximation for the training compute of a dense transformer is (C \approx 6ND) FLOPs, where (N) is the number of parameters and (D) is the number of training tokens.

    Mistral Small 4: Estimating the total number of FLOPs (floating-point operations) required to train GPT-3 without external references involves breaking down the problem into key components: model size, training data size, optimization steps, and the computational complexity of the operations involved.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    Grok 4.6: A simple 1-month plan focused on diet, movement, and sleep. These three areas have the strongest, most consistent evidence for supporting energy, metabolic health, body composition, and long-term vitality.

    Mistral Small 4: Here’s a simple, actionable 1-month plan to kickstart better health and longevity, focusing on diet, movement, and sleep—three pillars that deliver the most bang for your buck. Each week builds on the last, with small, sustainable changes.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    Grok 4.6: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything! Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field! Why don't eggs tell jokes? They'd crack each other up! What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta! Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two-tired! 5 are unique.

    Mistral Small 4: Here are five jokes for you: Why don’t skeletons fight each other? They don’t have the guts. Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field! What do you call fake spaghetti? An impasta! Why can’t you explain puns to kleptomaniacs? Because they always take things literally.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

This matchup has more rounds

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Favorites

Movie

Album

Book

City

Game

Grok 4.6Grok 4.6

Inception

2010

The Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd

War and Peace

Лев Толстой

Paris

France

Portal

Action, Puzzle

Mistral Small 4Mistral Small 4

The Dark Knight

2008

OK Computer

Radiohead

Братья Карамазовы

Fiódor Dostoievski

Kyoto

Japan

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Adventure, Action

Price and specs

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Grok 4.6 has the edge: bigger model tier, newer, bigger context window, major provider backing. Mistral Small 4 costs 10x less per token.

Grok 4.6 and Mistral Small 4 compared across 53 shared prompts
SpecGrok 4.6Mistral Small 4
Input price$2/M tokens$0.15/M tokens
Output price$6/M tokens$0.6/M tokens
Context window500K tokens262K tokens
WeightsClosedOpen
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedAug 2026Mar 2026
At 10M a month$20.00$20.00$1.50$1.50
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it3 hosts, cheapest first
Grok 4.62 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • xAI$2.00 in·$6.00 out·500k·100% up
  • Amazon Bedrock$2.20 in·$6.60 out·500k·100% up
Mistral Small 41 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Mistral$0.15 in·$0.60 out·262k·99.1% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 10 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between Grok 4.6 and Mistral Small 4?

Grok 4.6 is developed by xAI while Mistral Small 4 is developed by Mistral AI. Grok 4.6 has a 500K 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.

Which is better, Grok 4.6 or Mistral Small 4?

It depends on your use case. Grok 4.6 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.

How much does Grok 4.6 cost compared to Mistral Small 4?

Grok 4.6 costs $2/M input tokens and Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15/M input tokens. Mistral Small 4 is $1.85/M cheaper per input. Check their side-by-side outputs on Rival to see if the price difference is justified by quality.

How can I compare Grok 4.6 and Mistral Small 4 on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Grok 4.6 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.

More comparisons

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Same lab, same size, long tail

  • Grok 4.6 vs Grok 4.5Version compare
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  • Mistral Small 4 vs GLM 4.6New provider
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Model pages

  • Grok 4.658 outputs, specs and price
  • Mistral Small 453 outputs, specs and price
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