GPT-4.1 mini vs DeepSeek V3 0324 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.
- Our pick
OpenAIGPT-4.1 mini
60/100- ECI135.0
- Price$0.40 / $1.60
- Context1.05M
DeepSeekDeepSeek V3 0324
54/100- ECI135.9
- Price$0.24 / $0.90
- Context164K
Mistral AIMistral Medium 3
53/100- ECI134.1
- Price$0.40 / $2.00
- Context131K
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 miniGPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs · DeepSeek V3 0324: Text · Mistral Medium 3: Text, Images
- Self-hostingDeepSeek V3 0324Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GPT-4.1 mini | DeepSeek V3 0324 | Mistral Medium 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 59 | 60 | 58 |
| Price | 25% | 57 | 68 | 54 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 25 | 50 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 28 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 60/100 | 54/100 | 53/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-4.1 miniOpenAI | DeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek | Mistral Medium 3Mistral AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 135.0 | 135.9 (best) | 134.1 |
| ECI rank | #115 of 148 | #114 of 148 (best) | #117 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 65.9% | 67.6% (best) | 59.5% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 6.7% | — | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 44.7% (best) | 37.8% | 32.2% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 12.7% | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.40 | $0.24 (best) | $0.40 |
| Output | $1.60 | $0.90 (best) | $2.00 |
| Cached input | $0.10 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.70 | $0.405 (best) | $0.80 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Median of 5 providers | Official Mistral API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,047,576 tokens (best) | 163,840 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 163,840 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gpt-4.1-mini | — | mistral-medium-2505 |
| API providers | 24 (best) | 5 | 5 |
| Released | Apr 14, 2025 | Mar 24, 2025 | May 7, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | — | May 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
- DeepSeek V3 0324$4.20
- Mistral Medium 3$8.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-4.1 mini, DeepSeek V3 0324 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, GPT-4.1 mini, DeepSeek V3 0324 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 GPT-4.1 mini, DeepSeek V3 0324 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: GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768, DeepSeek V3 0324 up to 163,840, Mistral Medium 3 up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-4.1 mini accepts text, images and PDFs; DeepSeek V3 0324 accepts text; 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.
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