Is GPT-4o mini better than GPT-4.1 for coding?

GPT-4o mini scores 58 overall vs GPT-4.1's 80. GPT-4.1 has stronger benchmark performance, but pricing also matters — GPT-4o mini costs $0.150/M input vs $2.00/M for GPT-4.1.

Which is cheaper: GPT-4o mini or GPT-4.1?

GPT-4o mini is cheaper per million input tokens at $0.15/M vs $2.00/M.

What is the price-performance ratio of GPT-4o mini vs GPT-4.1?

Based on benchmark scores, GPT-4o mini costs $0.003 per score point while GPT-4.1 costs $0.063 per score point. GPT-4o mini offers better value.

GPT-4o mini vs GPT-4.1

Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026

GPT-4o mini

OpenAI

Affordable small model. Fast and cost-effective for high-volume coding tasks.

Input	$0.150/M
Output	$0.600/M
Context	128K tokens
Best For	High-volume tasks, simple coding, cost-sensitive projects
Benchmark	58/100

GPT-4.1

OpenAI

Updated GPT-4 generation with improved instruction following and reduced hallucination. Better coding accuracy than GPT-4o.

Input	$2.00/M
Output	$8.00/M
Context	128K tokens
Best For	Production coding, API development, complex instructions
Benchmark	80/100

Benchmark Performance Comparison

Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.

Benchmark	GPT-4o mini	GPT-4.1	Leader
Overall Score	58	80	GPT-4.1 leads by 22pts
SWE-bench Verified	50	76	GPT-4.1 leads by 26pts
LiveCodeBench	60	82	GPT-4.1 leads by 22pts
HumanEval	78	94	GPT-4.1 leads by 16pts
BigCodeBench	44	68	GPT-4.1 leads by 24pts

Cost Comparison by Scenario

Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.

Scenario	GPT-4o mini	GPT-4.1	Savings
Small Script (1K lines)	$0.02	$0.31	GPT-4o mini saves $0.29 (92%)
Medium Feature (10K lines)	$0.18	$2.30	GPT-4o mini saves $2.12 (92%)
Large Project (50K lines)	$0.92	$11.50	GPT-4o mini saves $10.58 (92%)
Code Review (5K lines)	$0.05	$0.55	GPT-4o mini saves $0.50 (91%)

Value Analysis (Price per Benchmark Score Point)

Lower is better — how much you pay for each point of benchmark performance.

Model	Overall Score	Price per Score Point	Verdict
GPT-4o mini	58	$0.003/pt	Better value
GPT-4.1	80	$0.063/pt	Higher cost per point

GPT-4o mini delivers the best value at $0.003 per score point.

Strengths & Weaknesses

GPT-4o mini

+ Very cheap
+ Fast responses
- Struggles with multi-step reasoning

GPT-4.1

+ Latest GPT model
+ Strong across all benchmarks
- Premium pricing

Verdict

GPT-4o mini is cheaper at $0.150/M, but GPT-4.1 scores higher on benchmarks (80 vs 58).

Choose GPT-4o mini for cost-sensitive projects, GPT-4.1 when performance matters most.

Compare with Other Models

Claude Sonnet 4

Anthropic

Anthropic's balanced model for coding and general tasks. Best price-performance ratio in the Claude family.

$3.00/M input $15.00/M output ~$4.66 per medium feature

Claude Opus 4

Anthropic

Anthropic's most powerful model. Best for complex reasoning and challenging coding tasks.

$15.00/M input $75.00/M output ~$23.29 per medium feature

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Anthropic

Previous generation Sonnet. Still excellent for coding tasks at the same price point.

$3.00/M input $15.00/M output ~$4.66 per medium feature

Claude 3.5 Haiku

Anthropic

Fast, cost-effective model for high-volume tasks. Great for code review and simple queries.

$0.800/M input $4.00/M output ~$1.24 per medium feature

Claude 3 Opus

Anthropic

First generation Opus. Highest reasoning capability in the Claude 3 family.

$15.00/M input $75.00/M output ~$20.25 per medium feature

Claude 3 Sonnet

Anthropic

First generation Sonnet. Balanced performance for general tasks.

$3.00/M input $15.00/M output ~$4.05 per medium feature