Side-by-side
| Axis | Llama 3.3 70B | Mistral Small 22B |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | ollama pull llama3.3:70b. A 43 GB download at Q4_K_M: 48 GB of unified memory at the very least, 64 GB for room. It does not fit in one 24 GB graphics card. | ollama pull mistral-small:22b. ~13 GB download. Runs on 24 GB. |
| Security model | Local inference. No data leaves the machine. | Same. |
| Model support | 70B parameters, 4-bit quantised (Q4_K_M). Llama 3.3 Community License. | 22B parameters, 4-bit quantised (Q4_K_M). Mistral Research License for this release; Mistral Small 3 (24B) is Apache 2.0. |
| Cost | A Mac mini M4 Pro with 48 GB (€1,899) or 64 GB, or a Mac Studio. No published speed for this model on these machines. | A Mac mini M4 with 24 GB (€899). No published speed for this model; a 7B model writes 24.11 tok/s on the same chip (llama.cpp). |
| Ecosystem | Llama family has the broadest tool integrations and fine-tuning ecosystem. | Mistral publishes its newer small models under Apache 2.0; this 22B release is under its research license, so check the terms before shipping a product. |
| Best for | When you need maximum local capability and have the hardware budget. | A 24 GB machine and a model that leaves room for the agent next to it. |
Verdict
Memory decides first. Llama 3.3 70B at Q4 is a 43 GB file and needs a 48 to 64 GB machine; Mistral Small 22B is 13 GB and fits a 24 GB Mac mini M4 with the agent beside it. Neither llama.cpp scoreboard measures these two models, and we have not scored them on agent tasks, so test both on your own work before committing. Qwen 2.5 Coder 7B, a 7B model trained for code, is the small option for code-heavy workloads.
Notes
- Licences differ: Llama 3.3 ships under Meta's Llama 3.3 Community License, Mistral Small 22B under the Mistral Research License, Mistral Small 3 (24B) under Apache 2.0. Read the terms before you ship a product on any of them.
- Download sizes are the floor for memory: the context, the operating system and the agent need room on top.
- All three families get new releases often: check the Ollama library for newer tags before you settle.
Sources
- Ollama library, llama3.3 tags (read 2026-10-17)
- Ollama library, mistral-small tags (read 2026-10-17)
- Hugging Face, Mistral-Small-Instruct-2409 model card: Mistral Research License (read 2026-10-17)
- Hugging Face, Mistral-Small-24B-Instruct-2501 model card: Apache 2.0 (read 2026-10-17)
- Hugging Face, Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct model card: Llama 3.3 Community License (read 2026-10-17)
- llama.cpp, Apple Silicon scoreboard, discussion #4167 (read 2026-10-17)
Going deeper
For the full landscape report including hosting economics, security posture and regulatory context, see the 2026 landscape report. For the OpenClaw-specific history, see the complete OpenClaw timeline.
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