AI model comparison
Granite 4.2 8B vs Mistral Small 4
Side by side comparison of Granite 4.2 8B and Mistral Small 4 on pricing, benchmark scores, context window, and more.
Granite 4.2 8B is a dense reasoning model from IBM. It is suited for mathematics, code generation, multilingual dialogue, and agentic workflows that need multi-step reasoning.
- Input / 1M
- $0.06
- Output / 1M
- $0.15
- Context
- 131K
Mistral Small 4 is the next major release in the Mistral Small family, unifying the capabilities of several flagship Mistral models into a single system.
- Input / 1M
- $0.15
- Output / 1M
- $0.60
- Context
- 262K
Comparing image generators? Compare image models
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
Granite 4.2 8B
3.1x cheaper for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
Granite 4.2 8B
5.1 vs 4.3 on Artificial Analysis
Larger context window
Mistral Small 4
262K vs 131K tokens
Newer release
Granite 4.2 8B
Released August 31, 2026
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores
Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.
Intelligence index
Granite 4.2 8B5.1Mistral Small 44.3Coding index
Granite 4.2 8B22.4Mistral Small 426.6Agentic index
Granite 4.2 8B1.3Mistral Small 40.8Pricing
Granite 4.2 8B vs Mistral Small 4 API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | Granite 4.2 8B | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.06 | $0.15 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.15 | $0.60 |
| Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens | $0.02 | $0.02 |
| 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
Granite 4.2 8B$0.19Mistral Small 4$0.60Coding task
30K in, 4K out
Granite 4.2 8B$2.40$1.05 cachedMistral Small 4$6.90$2.85 cachedLong document summary
150K in, 2K out
Granite 4.2 8B$9.30$2.55 cachedMistral Small 4$23.70$3.45 cachedSpecs
Context window and capabilities
How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.
| Metric | Granite 4.2 8B | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 131K tokens | 262K tokens |
| Max output | 118K tokens | 210K tokens |
| Input types | Text | Image, Text |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | High, Low, None | High, None |
| Default reasoning effort | High | High |
| Release date | August 31, 2026 | March 16, 2026 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | Granite 4.2 8B | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Supported | Supported |
| Structured outputs | Supported | Supported |
| JSON mode | Supported | Supported |
| Reasoning | Supported | 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.
Granite 4.2 8BView full model details- Granite 4.2 8B vs Muse Glimmer 30B
- Granite 4.2 8B vs Command A+
- Granite 4.2 8B vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
- Granite 4.2 8B vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
- Granite 4.2 8B vs DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731
- Granite 4.2 8B vs Muse Spark 1.3 Contributor
- Granite 4.2 8B vs DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423
- Granite 4.2 8B vs Solar Mini 4
- Granite 4.2 8B vs Qwen3.7 Flash
Mistral Small 4View full model details- Mistral Small 4 vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL
- Mistral Small 4 vs Muse Glimmer 30B
- Mistral Small 4 vs Command A+
- Mistral Small 4 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
- Mistral Small 4 vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
- Mistral Small 4 vs GPT-5.6 Luna
- Mistral Small 4 vs DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731
- Mistral Small 4 vs Hy3
- Mistral Small 4 vs gpt-oss-120b
Our take
Granite 4.2 8B is 3.1x cheaper for a typical chat. Granite 4.2 8B scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (5.1 vs 4.3). Mistral Small 4 has the larger context window (262K vs 131K 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 Granite 4.2 8B or Mistral Small 4 cheaper?
Granite 4.2 8B is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). Granite 4.2 8B costs $0.06 per 1M input tokens and $0.15 per 1M output tokens, while Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15 per 1M input tokens and $0.60 per 1M output tokens.
Which has a bigger context window, Granite 4.2 8B or Mistral Small 4?
Mistral Small 4 supports up to 262K tokens of context, compared with 131K for Granite 4.2 8B.
Is Granite 4.2 8B smarter than Mistral Small 4?
On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Granite 4.2 8B scores 5.1 and Mistral Small 4 scores 4.3, putting Granite 4.2 8B ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.
Can I use Granite 4.2 8B and Mistral Small 4 at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Granite 4.2 8B and Mistral Small 4 answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to Granite 4.2 8B and Mistral Small 4 at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.