GPT-4o vs OpenAI o1
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
GPT-4o
OpenAIOpenAI's flagship multimodal model. Strong coding and reasoning at competitive pricing.
| Input | $2.50/M |
| Output | $10.00/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | General coding, multimodal tasks, chatbots |
| Benchmark | 75/100 |
OpenAI o1
OpenAIReasoning model optimized for complex problem-solving. Excels at math, science, and advanced coding.
| Input | $15.00/M |
| Output | $60.00/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | Complex math, advanced coding, scientific reasoning |
| Benchmark | 83/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | GPT-4o | OpenAI o1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 75 | 83 | o1 leads by 8pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 70 | 80 | o1 leads by 10pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 78 | 84 | o1 leads by 6pts |
| HumanEval | 90 | 95 | o1 leads by 5pts |
| BigCodeBench | 62 | 73 | o1 leads by 11pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | GPT-4o | OpenAI o1 | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.41 | $2.32 | GPT-4o saves $1.92 (83%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $3.06 | $17.25 | GPT-4o saves $14.19 (82%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $15.31 | $86.25 | GPT-4o saves $70.94 (82%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.78 | $4.13 | GPT-4o saves $3.34 (81%) |
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 | 75 | $0.033/pt | Better value |
| OpenAI o1 | 83 | $0.181/pt | Higher cost per point |
GPT-4o delivers the best value at $0.033 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
GPT-4o
- + Strong general-purpose
- + Good multimodal
- - Less consistent on coding than Claude
OpenAI o1
- + Strong step-by-step reasoning
- + Best at math-heavy coding
- - Expensive
- - Slow
Verdict
GPT-4o is cheaper at $2.50/M, but OpenAI o1 scores higher on benchmarks (83 vs 75).
Choose GPT-4o for cost-sensitive projects, OpenAI o1 when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
Claude Sonnet 4
AnthropicAnthropic's balanced model for coding and general tasks. Best price-performance ratio in the Claude family.
Claude Opus 4
AnthropicAnthropic's most powerful model. Best for complex reasoning and challenging coding tasks.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
AnthropicPrevious generation Sonnet. Still excellent for coding tasks at the same price point.
Claude 3.5 Haiku
AnthropicFast, cost-effective model for high-volume tasks. Great for code review and simple queries.
Claude 3 Opus
AnthropicFirst generation Opus. Highest reasoning capability in the Claude 3 family.
Claude 3 Sonnet
AnthropicFirst generation Sonnet. Balanced performance for general tasks.