GPT-4.1 mini vs Mistral Medium 3.1 vs Mistral Medium 3
GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 62 to 50 and 47 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
OpenAIGPT-4.1 mini
62/100- ECI135.0
- Price$0.40 / $1.60
- Context1.05M
Mistral AIMistral Medium 3.1
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.40 / $2.00
- Context262K
- Mistral AI
Mistral Medium 3
47/100- 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 62/100 against Mistral Medium 3.1 (50) and Mistral Medium 3 (47). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · Mistral Medium 3.1 $0.80 · Mistral Medium 3 $0.80 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · Mistral Medium 3.1 262,144 · Mistral Medium 3 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs · Mistral Medium 3.1: Text, Images · Mistral Medium 3: Text, Images
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | GPT-4.1 mini | Mistral Medium 3.1 | Mistral Medium 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 57 | 54 | 54 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 70 | 50 | 50 |
| Context window | 20% | 61 | 37 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 62/100 | 50/100 | 47/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-4.1 miniOpenAI | Mistral Medium 3.1Mistral AI | Mistral Medium 3Mistral AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 135.0 (best) | — | 134.1 |
| ECI rank | #115 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 | $0.40 | $0.40 |
| Output | $1.60 (best) | $2.00 | $2.00 |
| Cached input | $0.10 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.70 (best) | $0.80 | $0.80 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Official Mistral API | Official Mistral API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,047,576 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | 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 | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gpt-4.1-mini | mistral-medium-2508 | mistral-medium-2505 |
| API providers | 24 (best) | 1 | 5 |
| Released | Apr 14, 2025 | Aug 12, 2025 | May 7, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | May 2025 | 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
- Mistral Medium 3.1$8.00
- Mistral Medium 3$8.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-4.1 mini, Mistral Medium 3.1 or Mistral Medium 3?
GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Mistral Medium 3.1 (50) and Mistral Medium 3 (47). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 mini, Mistral Medium 3.1 or Mistral Medium 3?
GPT-4.1 mini is cheaper at $0.40 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). Mistral Medium 3.1 costs $0.40 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official Mistral 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 $0.70 per million tokens for GPT-4.1 mini versus $0.80 for Mistral Medium 3.1 (1.1× as much) and $0.80 for Mistral Medium 3 (1.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. GPT-4.1 mini has an ECI of 135.0, Mistral Medium 3.1 has not been scored yet and Mistral Medium 3 has an ECI of 134.1.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4.1 mini, Mistral Medium 3.1 and Mistral Medium 3 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. 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 262,144 for Mistral Medium 3.1 and 131,072 for Mistral Medium 3. Maximum output per response: GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768, Mistral Medium 3.1 up to 262,144, 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; Mistral Medium 3.1 accepts text and images; Mistral Medium 3 accepts text and images. GPT-4.1 mini handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. GPT-4.1 mini, Mistral Medium 3.1 and Mistral Medium 3 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Mistral Medium 3.1 is the newest, released Aug 12, 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 3.1 May 2025, 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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