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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-4.1 mini vs Claude Opus 4

GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 60 to 48 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    OpenAI

    GPT-4.1 mini

    Released Apr 14, 2025

    60/100
    • ECI135.0
    • Price$0.40 / $1.60
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove GPT-4.1 mini

  2. Anthropic

    Claude Opus 4

    Released May 22, 2025

    48/100
    • ECI142.7
    • Price$15.00 / $75.00
    • Context200K
    Full specs Remove Claude Opus 4

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

GPT-4.1 mini is our pick

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Claude Opus 4 (48). It leads on price and context window. Claude Opus 4 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityClaude Opus 4Capabilities Index (ECI): Claude Opus 4 142.7 · GPT-4.1 mini 135.0
  • Lowest priceGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · Claude Opus 4 $30.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · Claude Opus 4 200,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsGPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs · Claude Opus 4: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-4.1 miniClaude Opus 4
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%5969
Price25%570
Inputs & features15%7070
Context window10%6132
Overall100%60/10048/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

GPT-4.1 mini vs Claude Opus 4 specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-4.1 miniOpenAIClaude Opus 4Anthropic
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)135.0142.7 (best)
ECI rank#115 of 148#87 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions65.9%76.3% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics6.7%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics44.7%64.4% (best)
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues—70.7%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions12.7%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.40 (best)$15.00
Output$1.60 (best)$75.00
Cached input$0.10—
Blended (3:1)$0.70 (best)$30.00
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIMedian of 5 providers
Limits
Context window1,047,576 tokens (best)200,000 tokens
Max output32,768 tokens (best)32,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDgpt-4.1-mini—
API providers24 (best)5
ReleasedApr 14, 2025May 22, 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 2024Mar 31, 2025
03 — Cost

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
  • Claude Opus 4$300.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-4.1 mini or Claude Opus 4?

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Claude Opus 4 (48). It leads on price and context window. Claude Opus 4 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 mini or Claude Opus 4?

GPT-4.1 mini is cheaper at $0.40 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). Claude Opus 4 costs $15.00 input / $75.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). 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 $30.00 for Claude Opus 4 (43× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Claude Opus 4 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Claude Opus 4 142.7 (#87 of 148) and GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 (#115 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (140.2–144.2 vs 131.2–136.6), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Claude Opus 4 76.3%, GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Claude Opus 4 64.4%, GPT-4.1 mini 44.7%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4.1 mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Claude Opus 4 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 200,000 for Claude Opus 4. Maximum output per response: GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768, Claude Opus 4 up to 32,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-4.1 mini accepts text, images and PDFs; Claude Opus 4 accepts text, images and PDFs. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

No. GPT-4.1 mini and Claude Opus 4 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Claude Opus 4 is the newest, released May 22, 2025. GPT-4.1 mini came out Apr 14, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 mini Apr 2024, Claude Opus 4 Mar 31, 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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