ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek V3 0324 vs GPT-4.1 mini vs Mistral Medium 3

GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 60 to 54 and 53 on our weighted score, though DeepSeek V3 0324 is 42% cheaper per token.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek V3 0324

    Released Mar 24, 2025

    54/100
    • ECI135.9
    • Price$0.24 / $0.90
    • Context164K
  2. Our pick

    OpenAI

    GPT-4.1 mini

    Released Apr 14, 2025

    60/100
    • ECI135.0
    • Price$0.40 / $1.60
    • Context1.05M
  3. Mistral AI

    Mistral Medium 3

    Released May 7, 2025

    53/100
    • ECI134.1
    • Price$0.40 / $2.00
    • Context131K
01 — Verdict

GPT-4.1 mini is our pick

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against DeepSeek V3 0324 (54) and Mistral Medium 3 (53). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek V3 0324Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 · GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 · Mistral Medium 3 134.1
  • Lowest priceDeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek V3 0324 $0.405 · GPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · Mistral Medium 3 $0.80 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · DeepSeek V3 0324 163,840 · Mistral Medium 3 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniDeepSeek V3 0324: Text · GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs · Mistral Medium 3: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingDeepSeek V3 0324Publishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek V3 0324GPT-4.1 miniMistral Medium 3
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%605958
Price25%685754
Inputs & features15%257050
Context window10%286124
Overall100%54/10060/10053/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

DeepSeek V3 0324 vs GPT-4.1 mini vs Mistral Medium 3 specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeekGPT-4.1 miniOpenAIMistral Medium 3Mistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)135.9 (best)135.0134.1
ECI rank#114 of 148 (best)#115 of 148#117 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions67.6% (best)65.9%59.5%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—6.7%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics37.8%44.7% (best)32.2%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—12.7%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.24 (best)$0.40$0.40
Output$0.90 (best)$1.60$2.00
Cached input—$0.10—
Blended (3:1)$0.405 (best)$0.70$0.80
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 5 providersOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window163,840 tokens1,047,576 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output163,840 tokens (best)32,768 tokens131,072 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoYesYes
PDFsNoYesNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoNoNo
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoYesNo
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietaryProprietary
API model ID—gpt-4.1-minimistral-medium-2505
API providers524 (best)5
ReleasedMar 24, 2025Apr 14, 2025May 7, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Apr 2024May 2025
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.

  • DeepSeek V3 0324$4.20
  • GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
  • Mistral Medium 3$8.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek V3 0324, GPT-4.1 mini or Mistral Medium 3?

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against DeepSeek V3 0324 (54) and Mistral Medium 3 (53). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V3 0324, GPT-4.1 mini or Mistral Medium 3?

DeepSeek V3 0324 is cheaper at $0.24 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). GPT-4.1 mini costs $0.40 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price); Mistral Medium 3 costs $0.40 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.405 per million tokens for DeepSeek V3 0324 versus $0.70 for GPT-4.1 mini (1.7× as much) and $0.80 for Mistral Medium 3 (2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek V3 0324 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 (#114 of 148), GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 (#115 of 148) and Mistral Medium 3 134.1 (#117 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (132.4–138.0 vs 131.2–136.6), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek V3 0324 67.6%, GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%, Mistral Medium 3 59.5%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-4.1 mini 44.7%, DeepSeek V3 0324 37.8%, Mistral Medium 3 32.2%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek V3 0324, GPT-4.1 mini and Mistral Medium 3 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek V3 0324 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

GPT-4.1 mini has the largest context window at 1,047,576 tokens, against 163,840 for DeepSeek V3 0324 and 131,072 for Mistral Medium 3. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek V3 0324 up to 163,840, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768, Mistral Medium 3 up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek V3 0324 accepts text; GPT-4.1 mini accepts text, images and PDFs; Mistral Medium 3 accepts text and images. GPT-4.1 mini handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

DeepSeek V3 0324 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 mini and Mistral Medium 3 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Mistral Medium 3 is the newest, released May 7, 2025. GPT-4.1 mini came out Apr 14, 2025; DeepSeek V3 0324 came out Mar 24, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 mini Apr 2024, Mistral Medium 3 May 2025.

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.