GPT-4.1 mini vs DeepSeek-V3.1 vs Mistral Medium 3
GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 60 to 55 and 53 on our weighted score, though DeepSeek-V3.1 is 14% cheaper per token.
- Our pick
OpenAIGPT-4.1 mini
60/100- ECI135.0
- Price$0.40 / $1.60
- Context1.05M
DeepSeekDeepSeek-V3.1
55/100- ECI139.9
- Price$0.385 / $1.25
- Context131K
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-V3.1 (55) and Mistral Medium 3 (53). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek-V3.1 wins on capability and price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityDeepSeek-V3.1Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-V3.1 139.9 · GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 · Mistral Medium 3 134.1
- Lowest priceDeepSeek-V3.1DeepSeek-V3.1 $0.601 · 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-V3.1 131,072 · Mistral Medium 3 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs · DeepSeek-V3.1: Text · Mistral Medium 3: Text, Images
- Self-hostingDeepSeek-V3.1Publishes downloadable weights (MIT License)
| Measure | Weight | GPT-4.1 mini | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Mistral Medium 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 59 | 65 | 58 |
| Price | 25% | 57 | 60 | 54 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 35 | 50 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 60/100 | 55/100 | 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-V3.1DeepSeek | Mistral Medium 3Mistral AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 135.0 | 139.9 (best) | 134.1 |
| ECI rank | #115 of 148 | #100 of 148 (best) | #117 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 65.9% (best) | — | 59.5% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 6.7% | — | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 44.7% (best) | — | 32.2% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 12.7% | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.40 | $0.385 (best) | $0.40 |
| Output | $1.60 | $1.25 (best) | $2.00 |
| Cached input | $0.10 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.70 | $0.601 (best) | $0.80 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Median of 8 providers | Official Mistral API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,047,576 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 8,192 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| 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 | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | OpenMIT License | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gpt-4.1-mini | — | mistral-medium-2505 |
| API providers | 24 (best) | 8 | 5 |
| Released | Apr 14, 2025 | Aug 21, 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-V3.1$6.35
- Mistral Medium 3$8.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-4.1 mini, DeepSeek-V3.1 or Mistral Medium 3?
GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against DeepSeek-V3.1 (55) and Mistral Medium 3 (53). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek-V3.1 wins on capability and price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 mini, DeepSeek-V3.1 or Mistral Medium 3?
DeepSeek-V3.1 is cheaper at $0.385 input / $1.25 output per million tokens (median across 8 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 $0.601 per million tokens for DeepSeek-V3.1 versus $0.70 for GPT-4.1 mini (1.2× as much) and $0.80 for Mistral Medium 3 (1.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
DeepSeek-V3.1 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-V3.1 139.9 (#100 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 (136.1–143.3 vs 131.2–136.6), so treat the gap as small.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4.1 mini, DeepSeek-V3.1 and Mistral Medium 3 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek-V3.1 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-V3.1 and 131,072 for Mistral Medium 3. Maximum output per response: GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768, DeepSeek-V3.1 up to 8,192, 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-V3.1 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-V3.1 publishes its weights (MIT License) and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 mini and Mistral Medium 3 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
DeepSeek-V3.1 is the newest, released Aug 21, 2025. Mistral Medium 3 came out May 7, 2025; GPT-4.1 mini came out Apr 14, 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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