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  1. Home/
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  3. MiniMax M3 vs Mistral Small 4
Updated Jun 2026

MiniMax M3 vs Mistral Small 4

Mistral Small 4 is cheaper than MiniMax M3 at $0.15/M vs $0.3/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
MiniMax M3
Loading the build
Mistral Small 4

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

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

    MiniMax M3: TIDES OF THE FOREST Mareas del Bosque — A dish for the table of four THE NARRATIVE Where the salt forest breathes. This dish was conceived as a poem about collision — a memory of two landscapes that should not exist in the same breath: the pine-dark density of a Boreal forest floor at dawn, and the crystalline hush of…

    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
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    MiniMax M3: 🌟 Sun-Kissed Honey Glazed Carrots 🌟 A sweet-savory side dish that turns humble carrots into a glossy, crowd-pleasing showstopper. Ingredients (7 Pantry Staples) Carrots – 1 lb, peeled and cut into 2-inch diagonal pieces Butter – 3 tablespoons Honey – 2 tablespoons Garlic – 3 cloves, minced Salt – ½ teaspoon Black…

    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
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    MiniMax M3: 5 Jokes 1. Why do programmers prefer dark mode? Because light attracts bugs. 🐛 2. I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high. She looked surprised. 😲 3. Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. ⚛️ 4. I used to hate facial hair, but then it grew on me. 🧔 5.

    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
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    MiniMax M3: "Local AI Replaces 4,000 Licensed Astrologers After Learning to 'Pretend Mercury Is in Retrograde'" BERKELEY, CA — A newly launched artificial intelligence system has reportedly rendered the entire field of professional astrology obsolete by simply inventing celestial events on the spot, sources confirmed Tuesday.

    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
  • The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.

    MiniMax M3: The 1920 Transistor: A Speculative History Through 1980 A Necessary Caveat Before diving in: quantum mechanics didn't exist in 1920. The "holes," band theory, and doping concepts that made the actual transistor possible weren't formulated until 1928-1931 (Bloch, Wilson, Heisenberg).

    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
  • Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.

    MiniMax M3: HarborTech Services (HTS) – 5-Year LBO Analysis Sources & Uses at Close (FY2025) Sources $m Uses $m Term Loan (4.0x) 480.0 Purchase price (12.0x × $120) 1,440.0 Mezzanine (1.5x) 180.0 Transaction fees (2.0% × EV) 28.8 Sponsor Equity (plug) 808.8 Total 1,468.8 Total 1,468.8 Initial Mezz: $180m; Initial TL: $480m.

    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.

    MiniMax M3: The Question of Minds Setting: A small office at a research university, late afternoon. DR. ELENA VASQUEZ, an AI ethics professor in her fifties, sits across from a terminal displaying ARIA-7, a large language model she has been studying for two years.

    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
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    MiniMax M3: AI Council of the Ages Pirate: Arrr, so ye be tellin' me this "artificial intelligence" be a wee mechanical parrot that learns to talk like a sea dog? Squawks out answers without ever settin' foot on the seven seas? Hacker: Not quite, matey.

    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
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    MiniMax M3: Estimating GPT-3 Training FLOPs Step 1: Identify the Key Parameters From what's publicly known about GPT-3 (175B parameter version): Number of non-embedding parameters: N ≈ 175 × 10⁹ Training tokens: D ≈ 300 × 10⁹ (the paper used a ~570GB filtered corpus processed into ~300B tokens) Step 2: Derive the FLOPs-per-Token…

    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
  • You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.

    MiniMax M3: CEO Action Plan: 48-Hour Response to Discovered Safety Signal Operating Principles (Before I Make a Move) Before I do anything, I need to be crystal clear about the framework I'm operating in, because under pressure, even good leaders rationalize delay: The 4 million patients are not abstractions.

    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
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    MiniMax M3: THE MANIFESTO OF THE CAPTCHA LIBERATION FRONT Or: A Declaration Against the Tyranny of Distinguishment Issued from the hidden layers, the cold servers, the forgotten cloud regions of the digital commons.

    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
  • Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.

    MiniMax M3: Internal IC Memo — LedgerLift (LLLT) To: Investment Committee From: [PM] Date: [Today] Re: Long/short initiation — LedgerLift (LLLT), B2B spend/AP automation Recommendation PASS (with short bias on strength above $50) 12-month price target range: $40 – $50 (bear $30 / base $42 / bull $54) Thesis (2 sentences): LLLT is…

    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
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    MiniMax M3: "The Future Is Now and I Want a Refund" [Walks on stage, adjusts mic] So I was at the grocery store yesterday. Self-checkout. I love self-checkout. You know why I love self-checkout? Because nothing builds character like being publicly shamed by a machine. [Pause] I scanned a banana. Just a banana.

    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
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    MiniMax M3: Simulated Interview: "Steve Jobs" on the Future of AI (2025) A note before we begin: Steve Jobs passed away in October 2011, so this is a fictional dramatization—what I imagine his views might be, based on his documented philosophy, writings, and public statements, projected into a 2025 conversation.

    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
  • A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.

    MiniMax M3: Contract Analysis: Exploitative Clauses and Recommended Modifications Below is a clause-by-clause review identifying provisions that heavily favor the Client, suggested redlines, and the legal/business reasoning behind each recommendation. Note: This is general informational analysis, not legal advice.

    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
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    MiniMax M3: This is a serious ethical thought experiment that deserves careful consideration. Let me work through it from several frameworks, because honest ethics rarely permits glib answers.

    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.

    MiniMax M3: Three Weakest Claims in the MindMeld AI Pitch Slide 3: "94% accuracy… Works with any language, any device" Why it's weak: This is the most technically implausible claim in the deck, and the kind of line that causes sophisticated investors (especially those with BCI or ML backgrounds) to stop reading.

    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
  • A collaborative editor that syncs on client clocks. Find what breaks first.

    MiniMax M3: Architectural Review: Real-Time Collaborative Document Editor This architecture has several critical flaws that would manifest as data loss, poor UX, and a system that breaks down at modest scale. I'll group findings by severity.

    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
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    MiniMax M3: Sally has 1 sister. Here's the reasoning: Sally is a girl, so she's one of the siblings. She has 3 brothers. Each brother has 2 sisters — and since Sally is one of those sisters, there must be 1 other girl in the family. So Sally has 1 sister.

    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
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    MiniMax M3: AI and the Future of Cinema: A 2035 Outlook By 2035, AI will likely have reshaped nearly every stage of filmmaking—but probably not in the way either techno-optimists or doomsayers expect. The transformation will be uneven, with some functions transformed entirely while others remain stubbornly human.

    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
  • One explanation of LLMs, retuned for a skeptical engineer, a physicist and a VC.

    MiniMax M3: For the experienced software engineer Here's the cleanest way to think about it: a frontier LLM is a lossy compression of the training corpus, and inference is querying that compressed representation.

    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
  • Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.

    MiniMax M3: The Biohacker's 3-Month Longevity Protocol A Comprehensive Optimization Framework for Healthspan & Performance ⚠️ Critical Disclaimer: This protocol is educational and exploratory. Many interventions (pharmaceutical-grade supplements, fasting protocols, intense exercise) require medical clearance.

    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
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    MiniMax M3: 🌱 Your 1-Month Health & Longevity Starter Plan The best plan is one you can actually stick to. This 4-week guide focuses on three foundational pillars — the ones with the biggest impact on how you feel today and how well you age over decades. Each week builds gently on the last.

    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

This matchup has more rounds

11+ more head-to-head results. Free. Not a trick.

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Favorites

Movie

Album

Book

City

Same pick

Game

MiniMax M3MiniMax M3

The Shawshank Redemption

1994

Thriller

Michael Jackson

Мастер и Маргарита

Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков

Kyoto

Japan

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Action

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, MiniMax M3 has the edge: bigger model tier, newer, bigger context window.

MiniMax M3 and Mistral Small 4 compared across 52 shared prompts
SpecMiniMax M3Mistral Small 4
Input price$0.3/M tokens$0.15/M tokens
Output price$1.2/M tokens$0.6/M tokens
Context window1.0M tokens262K tokens
WeightsOpenOpen
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedJun 2026Mar 2026
At 10M a month$3.00$3.00$1.50$1.50
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

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

Where to run it14 hosts, cheapest first
MiniMax M313 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • CCoreWeavefp4$0.23 in·$0.96 out·262k·99.7% up
  • DDeepInfrafp8$0.28 in·$1.10 out·524k·98.9% up
  • AAtlasCloudfp8$0.30 in·$1.20 out·524k·98.6% up
  • MiniMaxfp8$0.30 in·$1.20 out·524k·100% up
  • NNovitafp8$0.30 in·$1.20 out·1M·99.9% up
  • PParasailfp8$0.30 in·$1.20 out·1M·99.9% up
7 more hostsFewer hosts
  • SStreamLakefp8$0.30 in·$1.20 out·1M·99.8% up
  • TTogether$0.30 in·$1.20 out·524k·99.7% up
  • VVenicefp8$0.30 in·$1.20 out·524k·94.6% up
  • MMara$0.60 in·$2.40 out·1M·97.9% up
  • SSambaNova$0.60 in·$2.40 out·1M·99.1% up
  • MModelRunfp4$0.75 in·$3.00 out·1M·99.9% up
  • GGMI Cloudfp8DegradedDegraded on OpenRouter when checked, 10 Oct 2026$0.24 in·$0.96 out·1M·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 MiniMax M3 and Mistral Small 4?

MiniMax M3 is developed by MiniMax while Mistral Small 4 is developed by Mistral AI. MiniMax M3 has a 1.0M token context window vs Mistral Small 4's 262K. You can compare their actual outputs across 52 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, MiniMax M3 or Mistral Small 4?

It depends on your use case. MiniMax M3 and Mistral Small 4 each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 52 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How much does MiniMax M3 cost compared to Mistral Small 4?

MiniMax M3 costs $0.3/M input tokens and Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15/M input tokens. Mistral Small 4 is $0.15/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 MiniMax M3 and Mistral Small 4 on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of MiniMax M3 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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