OpenAI o4-mini vs GPT-4.1
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
OpenAI o4-mini
OpenAIUpdated mini reasoning model. Similar pricing to o3-mini with updated capabilities.
| Input | $1.10/M |
| Output | $4.40/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | General reasoning, coding tasks |
| Benchmark | 72/100 |
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 | OpenAI o4-mini | GPT-4.1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 72 | 80 | GPT-4.1 leads by 8pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 66 | 76 | GPT-4.1 leads by 10pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 74 | 82 | GPT-4.1 leads by 8pts |
| HumanEval | 92 | 94 | GPT-4.1 leads by 2pts |
| BigCodeBench | 56 | 68 | GPT-4.1 leads by 12pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | OpenAI o4-mini | GPT-4.1 | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.17 | $0.31 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $0.14 (45%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $1.27 | $2.30 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $1.03 (45%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $6.33 | $11.50 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $5.17 (45%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.30 | $0.55 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $0.25 (45%) |
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 o4-mini | 72 | $0.015/pt | Better value |
| GPT-4.1 | 80 | $0.063/pt | Higher cost per point |
OpenAI o4-mini delivers the best value at $0.015 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
OpenAI o4-mini
- + Improved reasoning at mini price
- - New model, limited data
GPT-4.1
- + Latest GPT model
- + Strong across all benchmarks
- - Premium pricing
Verdict
OpenAI o4-mini is cheaper at $1.10/M, but GPT-4.1 scores higher on benchmarks (80 vs 72).
Choose OpenAI o4-mini for cost-sensitive projects, GPT-4.1 when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
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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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