AI model comparison
gpt-oss-20b vs Mistral Small 3
Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.
OpenAI
gpt-oss-20b
gpt-oss-20b is an open-weight 21B parameter model released by OpenAI under the Apache 2.0 license.
- Input / 1M
- $0.02
- Output / 1M
- $0.09
- Context
- 131K
Mistral
Mistral Small 3
Mistral Small 3 is a 24B-parameter language model optimized for low-latency performance across common AI tasks.
- Input / 1M
- $0.05
- Output / 1M
- $0.08
- Context
- 33K
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
gpt-oss-20b
1.7x cheaper for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
gpt-oss-20b
10 vs 6.7 on Artificial Analysis
Larger context window
gpt-oss-20b
131K vs 33K tokens
Newer release
gpt-oss-20b
Released August 5, 2025
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores
Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.
Intelligence index
gpt-oss-20b10Mistral Small 36.7Coding index
gpt-oss-20bNot availableMistral Small 3Not availableAgentic index
gpt-oss-20bNot availableMistral Small 3Not availablePricing
gpt-oss-20b vs Mistral Small 3 API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | gpt-oss-20b | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.02 | $0.05 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.09 | $0.08 |
| Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens | $0.01 | Not available |
| Cache writePer 1M tokens | Not available | Not available |
What it costs in practice
Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.
Chat message
2K in, 500 out
gpt-oss-20b$0.08Mistral Small 3$0.14Coding task
30K in, 4K out
gpt-oss-20b$0.90$0.63 cachedMistral Small 3$1.82Long document summary
150K in, 2K out
gpt-oss-20b$2.88$1.53 cachedMistral Small 3$7.66Specs
Context window and capabilities
How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.
| Metric | gpt-oss-20b | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 131K tokens | 33K tokens |
| Max output | 33K tokens | 16K tokens |
| Input types | Text | Text |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | High, Medium, Low | Not available |
| Default reasoning effort | Medium | Not available |
| Release date | August 5, 2025 | January 30, 2025 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | gpt-oss-20b | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Supported | Not supported |
| Structured outputs | Supported | Supported |
| JSON mode | Supported | Supported |
| Reasoning | Supported | Not supported |
| Temperature | Supported | Supported |
| Stop sequences | Supported | Supported |
| Deterministic seed | Supported | Supported |
| Verbosity control | Not supported | Not supported |
Keep exploring
More on these models
Other head-to-heads, the full model page, and the alternatives list for each model.
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- Mistral Small 3 vs Ministral 3 3B 2512
- Mistral Small 3 vs Phi 4
- Mistral Small 3 vs Ministral 3 14B 2512
- Mistral Small 3 vs Nova Lite 1.0
- Mistral Small 3 vs Granite 4.0 Micro
- Mistral Small 3 vs Gemma 3 4B
Our take
gpt-oss-20b is 1.7x cheaper for a typical chat. gpt-oss-20b scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (10 vs 6.7). gpt-oss-20b has the larger context window (131K vs 33K tokens). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is gpt-oss-20b or Mistral Small 3 cheaper?
gpt-oss-20b is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). gpt-oss-20b costs $0.02 per 1M input tokens and $0.09 per 1M output tokens, while Mistral Small 3 costs $0.05 per 1M input tokens and $0.08 per 1M output tokens.
Which has a bigger context window, gpt-oss-20b or Mistral Small 3?
gpt-oss-20b supports up to 131K tokens of context, compared with 33K for Mistral Small 3.
Is gpt-oss-20b smarter than Mistral Small 3?
On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, gpt-oss-20b scores 10 and Mistral Small 3 scores 6.7, putting gpt-oss-20b ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.
Can I use gpt-oss-20b and Mistral Small 3 at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see gpt-oss-20b and Mistral Small 3 answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to gpt-oss-20b and Mistral Small 3 at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.