# GPT-5-Codex vs Magistral Small

> GPT-5-Codex is the stronger model overall, scoring 37.9 to 30.2 on the Noometry Index. Magistral Small costs 4.6× less per token, which makes it the better buy when GPT-5-Codex's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gpt-5-codex-vs-magistral-small
- Last updated: 2026-10-12
- Shared benchmarks: 1

## Summary

- They share 1 benchmark with published results for both. GPT-5-Codex scores higher in 2 categories and Magistral Small in 0 categories; 2 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in reasoning, where GPT-5-Codex leads 30.9 to 6.8.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is Kagi LLM Benchmark: 70.3% for GPT-5-Codex and 6.3% for Magistral Small.
- Magistral Small is cheaper at $0.50 / $1.50 per million input/output tokens, against $1.25 / $10 for GPT-5-Codex.
- GPT-5-Codex accepts more context: 400K tokens versus 128K.
- Magistral Small has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | GPT-5-Codex | Magistral Small |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI | Mistral AI |
| Noometry Index | 37.9 | 30.2 |
| Rank | 192 | 296 |
| Context | 400K | 128K |
| Input $/M | $1.25 | $0.50 |
| Output $/M | $10 | $1.50 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |

## Coding

- GPT-5-Codex: 42.4 (#103)
- Magistral Small: 38.4 (#176)

| Benchmark | GPT-5-Codex | Magistral Small |
|---|---|---|
| SciCode | — | 35.2% |
| WeirdML | 54.5% | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- GPT-5-Codex: 31.0 (#72)
- Magistral Small: —

| Benchmark | GPT-5-Codex | Magistral Small |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench | 44.3% | — |

## Reasoning

- GPT-5-Codex: 30.9 (#83)
- Magistral Small: 6.8 (#350)

| Benchmark | GPT-5-Codex | Magistral Small |
|---|---|---|
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 70.3% | 6.3% |
| ARC-AGI-2 | — | 0% |
| ARC-AGI-1 | — | 5% |
| CritPt | — | 0.3% |
| Chess Puzzles | — | 3% |
| DTBench | — | 61.3% |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | — | 133.19 |

## Math

- GPT-5-Codex: —
- Magistral Small: 26.2 (#261)

| Benchmark | GPT-5-Codex | Magistral Small |
|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | — | 30% |

## Knowledge

- GPT-5-Codex: —
- Magistral Small: 30.9 (#223)

| Benchmark | GPT-5-Codex | Magistral Small |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | — | 56.1% |

## FAQ

### Is GPT-5-Codex better than Magistral Small?

GPT-5-Codex is the stronger model overall, scoring 37.9 to 30.2 on the Noometry Index. Magistral Small costs 4.6× less per token, which makes it the better buy when GPT-5-Codex's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, GPT-5-Codex or Magistral Small?

Magistral Small is cheaper. It lists at $0.50 per million input tokens and $1.50 per million output tokens; GPT-5-Codex lists at $1.25 and $10.

### Is GPT-5-Codex or Magistral Small better for coding?

GPT-5-Codex scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 38.4 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

GPT-5-Codex does, with 400K tokens against 128K.

### How many benchmarks do GPT-5-Codex and Magistral Small share?

1 benchmark has published results for both models. GPT-5-Codex has 3 scored results on Noometry and Magistral Small has 10.
