ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek-V3 vs GPT-4.1 mini vs Magistral Small

GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 60 to 50 and 50 on our weighted score, though DeepSeek-V3 is 26% cheaper per token.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek-V3

    Released Dec 26, 2024

    50/100
    • ECI132.3
    • Price$0.32 / $1.10
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek-V3
  2. Our pick

    OpenAI

    GPT-4.1 mini

    Released Apr 14, 2025

    60/100
    • ECI135.0
    • Price$0.40 / $1.60
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove GPT-4.1 mini

  3. Mistral AI

    Magistral Small

    Released Jun 10, 2025

    50/100
    • ECI133.2
    • Price$0.50 / $1.50
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Magistral Small
01 — Verdict

GPT-4.1 mini is our pick

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

  • CapabilityGPT-4.1 miniCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 · Magistral Small 133.2 · DeepSeek-V3 132.3
  • Lowest priceDeepSeek-V3DeepSeek-V3 $0.515 · GPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · Magistral Small $0.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · DeepSeek-V3 131,072 · Magistral Small 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniDeepSeek-V3: Text · GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs · Magistral Small: Text
  • Self-hostingDeepSeek-V3 and Magistral SmallPublishes downloadable weights (DeepSeek Model License and Apache 2.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek-V3GPT-4.1 miniMagistral Small
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%565957
Price25%645756
Inputs & features15%257035
Context window10%246124
Overall100%50/10060/10050/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

DeepSeek-V3 vs GPT-4.1 mini vs Magistral Small specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek-V3DeepSeekGPT-4.1 miniOpenAIMagistral SmallMistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)132.3135.0 (best)133.2
ECI rank#121 of 148#115 of 148 (best)#120 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions56.5%65.9% (best)56.1%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—6.7%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics15.8%44.7% (best)30.0%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—12.7%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.32 (best)$0.40$0.50
Output$1.10 (best)$1.60$1.50
Cached input—$0.10—
Blended (3:1)$0.515 (best)$0.70$0.75
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 5 providersOfficial OpenAI APIMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens1,047,576 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output8,192 tokens32,768 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoYesNo
PDFsNoYesNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoNoYes
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoYesNo
Availability
WeightsOpenDeepSeek Model LicenseProprietaryOpenApache 2.0
API model ID—gpt-4.1-mini—
API providers524 (best)1
ReleasedDec 26, 2024Apr 14, 2025Jun 10, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Apr 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.

  • DeepSeek-V3$5.40
  • GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
  • Magistral Small$8.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek-V3, GPT-4.1 mini or Magistral Small?

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

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-V3, GPT-4.1 mini or Magistral Small?

DeepSeek-V3 is cheaper at $0.32 input / $1.10 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); Magistral Small costs $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.515 per million tokens for DeepSeek-V3 versus $0.70 for GPT-4.1 mini (1.4× as much) and $0.75 for Magistral Small (1.5× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GPT-4.1 mini scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 (#115 of 148), Magistral Small 133.2 (#120 of 148) and DeepSeek-V3 132.3 (#121 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (131.2–136.6 vs 128.9–134.4), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%, DeepSeek-V3 56.5%, Magistral Small 56.1%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-4.1 mini 44.7%, Magistral Small 30.0%, DeepSeek-V3 15.8%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek-V3, GPT-4.1 mini and Magistral Small yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-4.1 mini 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 131,072 for DeepSeek-V3 and 131,072 for Magistral Small. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek-V3 up to 8,192, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768, Magistral Small up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek-V3 accepts text; GPT-4.1 mini accepts text, images and PDFs; Magistral Small accepts text. GPT-4.1 mini handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

DeepSeek-V3 and Magistral Small publishes its weights (DeepSeek Model License and Apache 2.0) and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 mini is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Magistral Small is the newest, released Jun 10, 2025. GPT-4.1 mini came out Apr 14, 2025; DeepSeek-V3 came out Dec 26, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 mini Apr 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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