GPT-4.1 mini vs GPT-4o mini
GPT-4o mini is the cheaper of the 2: for the same tokens, 3 read for each 1 written, GPT-4.1 mini costs 2.7 times as much. Below are both price lists, what 8 everyday jobs cost a month on each, and how many tokens the same text takes on each, which can change the answer.
- For the same tokens
- GPT-4o mini is cheaper; GPT-4.1 mini costs 2.7 times as much
- Cheaper to read
- GPT-4o mini, $0.15 against $0.40
- Cheaper to write
- GPT-4o mini, $0.60 against $1.60
- Scores higher
- GPT-4.1 mini, 135 against 127
- Larger window
- GPT-4.1 mini, 1.05M against 128K tokens
Price per million tokens, side by side
In US dollars, as each maker prints them. The better figure in each row is green.
| GPT-4.1 miniOpenAI · earlier model | GPT-4o miniOpenAI · earlier model | |
|---|---|---|
| InputTokens the model reads | $0.40 | $0.15 |
| Cached inputRead again from the cache | $0.10 | $0.075 |
| Cache writePutting text in the cache | Not listed | Not listed |
| OutputTokens it writes, thinking included | $1.60 | $0.60 |
| Blend 3:13 tokens read for each 1 written | $0.70 | $0.2625 |
| Batch inputAnswers collected later | $0.20 | $0.075 |
| Batch output | $0.80 | $0.30 |
| Context windowTokens it holds at once | 1.05M | 128K |
| Capability scoreEpoch Capabilities Index; GPT-5 is 150 | 135 | 127 |
| Longest answerTokens it writes in 1 reply | 33K | 16K |
What 8 everyday jobs cost a month on each
Each job at its usual number of runs a day, for 30 days, at the standard price. The cheaper of the 2 is green; open any job in the calculator to change it.
| Job | GPT-4.1 mini | GPT-4o mini | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| A chat question300 in, 500 out, 100 a day | $2.760.092 cents a run | $1.040.034 cents a run | 2.7 times |
| A hard question, with thinking300 in, 1,400 out, 100 a day | $7.080.24 cents a run | $2.660.088 cents a run | 2.7 times |
| A long report, summarised60,000 in, 2,000 out, 20 a day | $16.322.7 cents a run | $6.121 cents a run | 2.7 times |
| A 40-turn agent task2,800,000 in, 40,000 out, 10 a day | $12843 cents a run | Too long for its window26 cents a run | |
| A support bot's reply4,000 in, 300 out, 2,000 a day | $88.800.15 cents a run | $37.800.063 cents a run | 2.3 times |
| Sort a message into a category250 in, 5 out, 50,000 a day | $1620.011 cents a run | $60.750.004 cents a run | 2.7 times |
| Read an invoice into fields1,500 in, 250 out, 1,000 a day | $30.000.1 cents a run | $11.250.037 cents a run | 2.7 times |
| Review a pull request25,000 in, 4,500 out, 50 a day | $25.801.7 cents a run | $9.670.64 cents a run | 2.7 times |
Your own job on both
Start from a job, then set its size, how often it runs and whether the answers can wait. Both bills follow every change.
A short question and a few paragraphs back.
about 230 words
Instructions or documents the model has read before cost far less the second time.
about 380 words
A month of this job
- GPT-4.1 mini$2.76
0.092 cents a run
- GPT-4o mini$1.04
0.034 cents a run
GPT-4o mini saves $1.72 a month; GPT-4.1 mini costs 2.7 times as much.
This job on every modelWhy the price per token is only the start
Every maker prints 2 main prices: one for the tokens a model reads (input) and one for the tokens it writes (output). On most current models writing costs 3 to 5 times as much as reading, so which model is cheaper can depend on the job. A job that reads a long document and writes a line pays mostly the input price; a chat that writes paragraphs pays mostly the output price. That is why each comparison prices 8 jobs and not one figure.
The same text is not the same number of tokens on every model. Each maker cuts text its own way, and Anthropic says its models from Claude 4.7 on produce about 30 percent more tokens for the same text than earlier ones. A model with the lower price per token can still send the larger bill, so each comparison counts one of our lessons the way both makers count it.
Discounts change the order too. Work that can wait costs half on a batch at the makers that offer one, and text read again from a cache costs a quarter of the input price or less on every current model here. The price table on each comparison shows who offers what.
Thinking is billed as output, and models differ in how much they think and how long they answer. A price list cannot show that. Before you switch, run the same 10 tasks on both models and compare the bills.
Questions
- Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 mini or GPT-4o mini?
- GPT-4o mini is cheaper: $0.15 per million tokens read and $0.60 per million written, against $0.40 and $1.60 on GPT-4.1 mini. On a mix of 3 tokens read for each 1 written, GPT-4.1 mini costs 2.7 times as much.
- Which is better, GPT-4.1 mini or GPT-4o mini?
- On the Epoch Capabilities Index, an independent score from Epoch AI that combines over 50 benchmarks, GPT-4.1 mini scores 135 and GPT-4o mini 127, above the top of the range of doubt around GPT-4o mini's score (GPT-5 is 150). One score is an average; test both on your own work before you switch.
- What does a support bot cost a month on GPT-4.1 mini and GPT-4o mini?
- At 2,000 replies a day, each reading 4,000 tokens (50 percent of them from cache) and writing 300, it costs $88.80 a month on GPT-4.1 mini and $37.80 on GPT-4o mini: GPT-4.1 mini costs 2.3 times as much for this job.
- Which has the larger context window, GPT-4.1 mini or GPT-4o mini?
- GPT-4.1 mini, with 1.05M tokens against 128K on GPT-4o mini. The window holds your instructions, the files you attach, the conversation so far and the answer, all at once.
- Does the same text take the same number of tokens on GPT-4.1 mini and GPT-4o mini?
- Yes, both are counted the same way: our lesson "How AI writes", 1,700 words long, is about 2,100 tokens on each.
- Can I pay less on GPT-4.1 mini and GPT-4o mini for work that can wait?
- Yes, on both. With a batch, where you collect the answers later instead of at once, GPT-4.1 mini costs $0.20 per million tokens read and $0.80 written, and GPT-4o mini $0.075 and $0.30.
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