ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Codestral vs o4-mini-deep-research

o4-mini-deep-research comes out ahead, 49 to 29 on our weighted score.

  1. Mistral AI

    Codestral

    Released May 29, 2024

    29/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.30 / $0.90
    • Context256K
  2. Our pick

    OpenAI

    o4-mini-deep-research

    Released Jun 26, 2024

    49/100
    • ECI—
    • Price—
    • Context200K
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

o4-mini-deep-research is our pick

o4-mini-deep-research is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against Codestral (29). It leads on inputs & features. Codestral wins on context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

  • CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
  • Lowest priceCodestralCodestral $0.45 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · o4-mini-deep-research unpriced
  • Longest contextCodestralCodestral 256,000 · o4-mini-deep-research 200,000 tokens
  • Widest inputso4-mini-deep-researchCodestral: Text · o4-mini-deep-research: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingCodestralPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightCodestralo4-mini-deep-research
Inputs & features60%2560
Context window40%3632
Overall100%29/10049/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Codestral vs o4-mini-deep-research specifications side by side
SpecificationCodestralMistral AIo4-mini-deep-researchOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.30—
Output$0.90—
Cached input$0.03—
Blended (3:1)$0.45—
Long-context rateSame rate—
Price sourceOfficial Mistral API—
Limits
Context window256,000 tokens (best)200,000 tokens
Max output4,096 tokens100,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model IDcodestral-latest—
API providers3—
ReleasedMay 29, 2024Jun 26, 2024
Knowledge cutoffOct 2024May 2024
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Codestral$4.80
  • o4-mini-deep-research—
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Codestral or o4-mini-deep-research?

o4-mini-deep-research is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against Codestral (29). It leads on inputs & features. Codestral wins on context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, Codestral or o4-mini-deep-research?

Codestral is cheaper at $0.30 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). . At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.45 per million tokens for Codestral versus . o4-mini-deep-research has no published per-token price.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Codestral has not been scored yet and o4-mini-deep-research has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Codestral and o4-mini-deep-research yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Codestral has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 200,000 for o4-mini-deep-research. Maximum output per response: Codestral up to 4,096, o4-mini-deep-research up to 100,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Codestral accepts text; o4-mini-deep-research accepts text and images. o4-mini-deep-research handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Codestral publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; o4-mini-deep-research is proprietary.

Which is newer?

o4-mini-deep-research is the newest, released Jun 26, 2024. Codestral came out May 29, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Codestral Oct 2024, o4-mini-deep-research May 2024.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.