Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Mistral Small 4

Summary of our 12-test suite (scores 1–5, in our testing): Gemma 4 26B A4B wins 5 tests, Mistral Small 4 wins 1, and 6 tests tie. Wins for Gemma: strategic analysis (Gemma 5 vs Mistral 4) — Gemma is tied for 1st on strategic analysis ("tied for 1st with 25 other models"); tool calling (5 vs 4) — Gemma is tied for 1st in tool calling ("tied for 1st with 16 other models"), indicating better function selection and argument accuracy in workflows; faithfulness (5 vs 4) — Gemma is tied for 1st on faithfulness ("tied for 1st with 32 other models"), so it more reliably sticks to source material in our tests; classification (4 vs 2) — Gemma is tied for 1st on classification ("tied for 1st with 29 other models") while Mistral ranks 51 of 53, making Gemma a clear choice for routing and labeling tasks; long context (5 vs 4) — Gemma is tied for 1st on long context ("tied for 1st with 36 other models"), so retrieval at 30K+ tokens is stronger in our tests. Mistral’s single win is safety calibration (2 vs 1) where Mistral ranks 12 of 55 ("rank 12 of 55 (20 models share this score)") versus Gemma at rank 32 ("rank 32 of 55"); this indicates Mistral is better at refusing harmful requests while permitting legitimate ones. Ties (both models): structured output (5 — both tied for 1st), constrained rewriting (3), creative problem solving (4), persona consistency (5), agentic planning (4), multilingual (5). Practical meaning: choose Gemma when you need best-in-class long-context handling, reliable faithfulness, stronger classification, and superior tool-calling; choose Mistral only if you prioritize a stricter safety calibration and accept higher per-token costs.

Costs are per mTok (1 mTok = 1,000 tokens). Gemma 4 26B A4B: $0.08 input / $0.35 output per 1k tokens. Mistral Small 4: $0.15 input / $0.60 output per 1k tokens. Per 1M tokens (1,000 mTok): Gemma input $80, output $350; Mistral input $150, output $600. At a 50/50 in/out split per 1M tokens Gemma = $215 vs Mistral = $375. At 10M tokens (50/50) Gemma = $2,150 vs Mistral = $3,750. At 100M tokens (50/50) Gemma = $21,500 vs Mistral = $37,500. The gap matters for high-volume or output-heavy workloads (summarization, generation, large-context assistants) — Gemma saves roughly 42% on a balanced usage profile (priceRatio 0.5833). Teams with tight budgets or large-scale apps should favor Gemma; teams prioritizing stricter safety behavior may accept Mistral’s higher cost.

Choose Gemma 4 26B A4B if you need top-tier long-context retrieval, accurate classification, reliable faithfulness, and stronger tool-calling — especially at scale (it costs $0.08 in / $0.35 out per 1k tokens). Choose Mistral Small 4 if safety calibration is a priority and you’re willing to pay more ($0.15 in / $0.60 out per 1k tokens) for stricter refusal behavior despite weaker classification and long-context scores.