Mistral Nemo vs GPT-4.1
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
Mistral Nemo
MistralCompact 12B open-weight model co-developed with NVIDIA. Excellent coding performance at minimal cost.
| Input | $0.150/M |
| Output | $0.150/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | Self-hosted deployments, cost-sensitive coding, edge deployments |
| Benchmark | 48/100 |
GPT-4.1
OpenAIUpdated 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 | Mistral Nemo | GPT-4.1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 48 | 80 | GPT-4.1 leads by 32pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 40 | 76 | GPT-4.1 leads by 36pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 50 | 82 | GPT-4.1 leads by 32pts |
| HumanEval | 70 | 94 | GPT-4.1 leads by 24pts |
| BigCodeBench | 32 | 68 | GPT-4.1 leads by 36pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | Mistral Nemo | GPT-4.1 | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | <$0.01 | $0.31 | Mistral Nemo saves $0.30 (97%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $0.08 | $2.30 | Mistral Nemo saves $2.22 (96%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $0.41 | $11.50 | Mistral Nemo saves $11.09 (96%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.03 | $0.55 | Mistral Nemo saves $0.52 (95%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mistral Nemo | 48 | $0.002/pt | Better value |
| GPT-4.1 | 80 | $0.063/pt | Higher cost per point |
Mistral Nemo delivers the best value at $0.002 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Mistral Nemo
- + Open weight
- + Self-hostable
- - Basic coding ability
GPT-4.1
- + Latest GPT model
- + Strong across all benchmarks
- - Premium pricing
Verdict
Mistral Nemo is cheaper at $0.150/M, but GPT-4.1 scores higher on benchmarks (80 vs 48).
Choose Mistral Nemo for cost-sensitive projects, GPT-4.1 when performance matters most.
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