GPT-4.1 mini vs Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 comes out ahead, 67 to 59 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
OpenAIGPT-4.1 mini
59/100- ECI134.9
- Price$0.40 / $1.60
- Context1.05M
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17
67/100- ECI133.8
- Price$0.12 / $0.48
- Context1.05M
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is our pick
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against GPT-4.1 mini (59). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGPT-4.1 miniCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-4.1 mini 134.9 · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 133.8
- Lowest priceGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 $0.21 · GPT-4.1 mini $0.70 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 1,048,576 · GPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | GPT-4.1 mini | Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 58 | 57 |
| Price | 25% | 55 | 79 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 90 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 59/100 | 67/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-4.1 miniOpenAI | Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17Google |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 134.9 (best) | 133.8 |
| ECI rank | #129 of 165 (best) | #132 of 165 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 65.9% | — |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 6.7% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 44.7% | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 12.7% | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.40 | $0.12 (best) |
| Output | $1.60 | $0.48 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.10 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.70 | $0.21 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Median of 2 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 1,047,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | Yes |
| Audio | No | Yes |
| Video | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gpt-4.1-mini | — |
| API providers | 28 (best) | 2 |
| Released | Apr 14, 2025 | Jun 17, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | Jan 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
- Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17$2.16
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-4.1 mini or Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against GPT-4.1 mini (59). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 mini or Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is cheaper at $0.12 input / $0.48 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). GPT-4.1 mini costs $0.40 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.21 per million tokens for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 versus $0.70 for GPT-4.1 mini (3.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
GPT-4.1 mini scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-4.1 mini 134.9 (#129 of 165) and Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 133.8 (#132 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (131.1–136.4 vs 130.1–136.1), so treat the gap as small.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4.1 mini and Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 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. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Their context windows are effectively the same size: GPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 and Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 1,048,576 tokens. Maximum output per response: GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-4.1 mini accepts text, images and PDFs; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. GPT-4.1 mini and Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is the newest, released Jun 17, 2025. GPT-4.1 mini came out Apr 14, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 mini Apr 2024, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 Jan 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 Nov 2, 2026.
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