OpenAI o1 vs Codestral
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
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 |
Codestral
MistralMistral's dedicated coding model. Open-weight and highly optimized for code generation and completion.
| Input | $0.300/M |
| Output | $0.900/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | Code completion, code generation, IDE integration |
| Benchmark | 60/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | OpenAI o1 | Codestral | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 83 | 60 | o1 leads by 23pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 80 | 54 | o1 leads by 26pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 84 | 64 | o1 leads by 20pts |
| HumanEval | 95 | 82 | o1 leads by 13pts |
| BigCodeBench | 73 | 44 | o1 leads by 29pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | OpenAI o1 | Codestral | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $2.32 | $0.04 | Codestral saves $2.29 (98%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $17.25 | $0.29 | Codestral saves $16.96 (98%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $86.25 | $1.43 | Codestral saves $84.83 (98%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $4.13 | $0.07 | Codestral saves $4.05 (98%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI o1 | 83 | $0.181/pt | Higher cost per point |
| Codestral | 60 | $0.005/pt | Better value |
Codestral delivers the best value at $0.005 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
OpenAI o1
- + Strong step-by-step reasoning
- + Best at math-heavy coding
- - Expensive
- - Slow
Codestral
- + Code-specialized
- + Very cheap
- - Narrow focus
Verdict
Codestral is cheaper at $0.300/M, but OpenAI o1 scores higher on benchmarks (83 vs 60).
Choose Codestral for cost-sensitive projects, OpenAI o1 when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
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Claude Opus 4
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Claude 3.5 Sonnet
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Claude 3.5 Haiku
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Claude 3 Opus
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Claude 3 Sonnet
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