GPT-4.1 mini vs MiniMax-M2.5
Too close to call on our weighted score (MiniMax-M2.5 61, GPT-4.1 mini 60). The right pick depends on what you value most.
OpenAIGPT-4.1 mini
60/100- ECI135.0
- Price$0.40 / $1.60
- Context1.05M
MiniMaxMiniMax-M2.5
61/100- ECI146.7
- Price$0.30 / $1.20
- Context205K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (MiniMax-M2.5 61/100, GPT-4.1 mini 60/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: MiniMax-M2.5 for raw capability and GPT-4.1 mini for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityMiniMax-M2.5Capabilities Index (ECI): MiniMax-M2.5 146.7 · GPT-4.1 mini 135.0
- Lowest priceMiniMax-M2.5MiniMax-M2.5 $0.525 · GPT-4.1 mini $0.70 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · MiniMax-M2.5 204,800 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs · MiniMax-M2.5: Text
- Self-hostingMiniMax-M2.5Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GPT-4.1 mini | MiniMax-M2.5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 59 | 74 |
| Price | 25% | 57 | 63 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 35 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 32 |
| Overall | 100% | 60/100 | 61/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-4.1 miniOpenAI | MiniMax-M2.5MiniMax |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 135.0 | 146.7 (best) |
| ECI rank | #115 of 148 | #66 of 148 (best) |
| 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 | $0.30 (best) |
| Output | $1.60 | $1.20 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.10 | $0.03 (best) |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.70 | $0.525 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Official MiniMax (minimax.io) API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 1,047,576 tokens (best) | 204,800 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | Yes | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | gpt-4.1-mini | MiniMax-M2.5 |
| API providers | 24 (best) | 21 |
| Released | Apr 14, 2025 | Feb 12, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | — |
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
- MiniMax-M2.5$5.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-4.1 mini or MiniMax-M2.5?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (MiniMax-M2.5 61/100, GPT-4.1 mini 60/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: MiniMax-M2.5 for raw capability and GPT-4.1 mini for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 mini or MiniMax-M2.5?
MiniMax-M2.5 is cheaper at $0.30 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (official MiniMax (minimax.io) API price). 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 $0.525 per million tokens for MiniMax-M2.5 versus $0.70 for GPT-4.1 mini (1.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
MiniMax-M2.5 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): MiniMax-M2.5 146.7 (#66 of 148) and GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 (#115 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (142.3–147.9 vs 131.2–136.6), so the gap is a real one.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4.1 mini and MiniMax-M2.5 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, MiniMax-M2.5 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?
GPT-4.1 mini has the largest context window at 1,047,576 tokens, against 204,800 for MiniMax-M2.5. Maximum output per response: GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768, MiniMax-M2.5 up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-4.1 mini accepts text, images and PDFs; MiniMax-M2.5 accepts text. GPT-4.1 mini handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
MiniMax-M2.5 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 mini is proprietary.
Which is newer?
MiniMax-M2.5 is the newest, released Feb 12, 2026. GPT-4.1 mini came out Apr 14, 2025. 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.
Related comparisons
- Add Mistral Medium 3Three-way comparison
- GPT-4.1 mini vs Mistral Medium 3Mistral AI · ECI 134.1
- GPT-4.1 mini vs QwQ 32BAlibaba (Qwen) · ECI 137.6
- GPT-4.1 mini vs DeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek · ECI 135.9
- GPT-4.1 mini vs Llama 4 Maverick 17B InstructMeta · ECI 132.2
- MiniMax-M2.5 vs GPT-5.4 nanoOpenAI · ECI 145.8
- MiniMax-M2.5 vs Qwen3.5 PlusAlibaba (Qwen) · ECI 146.8
