Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Mistral Medium 3.5.
Verdict by category, tale of the tape, shared benchmarks only, and cost at three workloads — all from the tracked data.
Verdict by category
| Category | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Mistral Medium 3.5 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| League Score | 57.8 | 59.1 | Mistral Medium 3.5 |
| Coding (SWE-bench %) | — | 77.6 | — |
| Reasoning (GPQA %) | 95.0 | — | — |
| Context (tokens) | 1048576 | 256000 | Gemini 3.8 Flash |
| Speed (tok/s) | — | — | — |
| Price (blended $/1M) | $1.50 | $3.00 | Gemini 3.8 Flash (cheaper) |
Tale of the tape
| Spec | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Mistral Medium 3.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Google DeepMind | Mistral AI |
| Released | Sep 2, 2026 | Apr 28, 2026 |
| League Score | 58 | 59 |
| Context | 1,048,576 tokens | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | 65,536 | 32,000 |
| $/1M input | $0.75 | $1.50 |
| $/1M output | $3.75 | $7.50 |
| Weights | Closed | Open |
| Speed | — | — |
Head-to-head benchmarks (shared only)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Mistral Medium 3.5 |
|---|---|---|
| No shared benchmark measurements yet — shown as not measured, never interpolated. | ||
Cost at three workloads
| Workload | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Mistral Medium 3.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Light — 1M in / 250K out | $1.69 | $3.38 |
| Standard — 10M in / 2.5M out | $16.88 | $33.75 |
| Long-context — 50M in / 5M out | $56.25 | $112.50 |
The pick
Pick Gemini 3.8 Flash if you need the bigger context window; you want the lower running cost.
Pick Mistral Medium 3.5 if you want the higher overall League Score; you want downloadable weights / self-hosting; coding is the priority.
All figures from the model database — sources and dates on each model page. Cost your own workload or compare a different pair.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better overall, Gemini 3.8 Flash or Mistral Medium 3.5?
Mistral Medium 3.5 leads on overall League Score, 59 to 58 — a gap of 1 points on a composite of sourced benchmarks. That is overall form, not every category: check the per-category verdicts before choosing.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.8 Flash or Mistral Medium 3.5?
Gemini 3.8 Flash is cheaper: $1.50 vs $3.00 blended per 1M tokens (3:1 input/output mix) — about 2.0x less per token.
Which has the bigger context window, Gemini 3.8 Flash or Mistral Medium 3.5?
Gemini 3.8 Flash, with 1M of context against 256K for Mistral Medium 3.5.
Are Gemini 3.8 Flash and Mistral Medium 3.5 open source?
Gemini 3.8 Flash is closed weights — API access only; Mistral Medium 3.5 is open weights — it can be downloaded and self-hosted.