Alibaba Cloud (Qwen)Qwen3.6-35B-A3BVSMistral AIMistral Small 4
Our Take
Both models are open-source. We recommend Qwen3.6-35B-A3B over Mistral Small 4 because it holds a clear reasoning lead. Choose Qwen3.6-35B-A3B for offline data control and complex codebases, multi-file repositories, and architectural planning, or Mistral Small 4 only if you prefer using its managed API endpoints for scripting single-file apps or clearly defined functions.
▶WHY?
Benchmark Calculations & Evidence:
Reasoning Accuracy: Both models were evaluated on the GPQA Diamond benchmark. Qwen3.6-35B-A3B scored 86%, while Mistral Small 4 scored 71.2% (+14.8% gap).
Coding Performance: Evaluated on different benchmarks. Qwen3.6-35B-A3B scored 49.5% on SWE-bench Pro (complex codebases, multi-file repositories, and architectural planning), while Mistral Small 4 scored 63.6% on LiveCodeBench (scripting single-file apps or clearly defined functions).
Hosting Model: Qwen3.6-35B-A3B runs locally for $0 API costs, while Mistral Small 4 is hosted via its managed API endpoints.
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Benchmarks & Scores
Coding (swe-bench-pro)
49.5%complex codebases, multi-file repositories, and architectural planning
Reasoning (gpqa-diamond)Winner (+14.8%)
86%graduate-level science QA
Cost & Context
Cost (per 1M tokens)
Self HostLocal execution (zero API fees)Context Window
262.14k tokensBenchmarks & Scores
Coding (live-code-bench)
63.6%scripting single-file apps or clearly defined functions
Reasoning (gpqa-diamond)
71.2%graduate-level science QA
Cost & Context
Cost (per 1M tokens)
$0.26Input: $0.15 | Output: $0.60Context Window
262.14k tokensFrequently Asked Questions about Qwen3.6-35B-A3B vs Mistral Small 4
For coding tasks, Qwen3.6-35B-A3B scores 49.5% on swe-bench-pro (complex codebases, multi-file repositories, and architectural planning), while Mistral Small 4 scores 63.6% on live-code-bench (scripting single-file apps or clearly defined functions).
Related Matchups
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