ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-4.1 vs GPT-4.1 mini vs QwQ 32B

GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 60 to 53 and 53 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. OpenAI

    GPT-4.1

    Released Apr 14, 2025

    53/100
    • ECI136.8
    • Price$2.00 / $8.00
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove GPT-4.1
  2. 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

  3. Alibaba (Qwen)

    QwQ 32B

    Released Mar 5, 2025

    53/100
    • ECI137.6
    • Price$0.66 / $1.00
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove QwQ 32B
01 — Verdict

GPT-4.1 mini is our pick

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against GPT-4.1 (53) and QwQ 32B (53). The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityQwQ 32BCapabilities Index (ECI): QwQ 32B 137.6 · GPT-4.1 136.8 · GPT-4.1 mini 135.0
  • Lowest priceGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · QwQ 32B $0.745 · GPT-4.1 $3.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 1,047,576 · GPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · QwQ 32B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1: Text, Images, PDFs · GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs · QwQ 32B: Text
  • Self-hostingQwQ 32BPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-4.1GPT-4.1 miniQwQ 32B
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%615962
Price25%245756
Inputs & features15%707035
Context window10%616124
Overall100%53/10060/10053/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

GPT-4.1 vs GPT-4.1 mini vs QwQ 32B specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-4.1OpenAIGPT-4.1 miniOpenAIQwQ 32BAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)136.8135.0137.6 (best)
ECI rank#111 of 148#115 of 148#109 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions66.9% (best)65.9%65.3%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics6.0%6.7% (best)—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics38.3%44.7%59.2% (best)
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues48.5%——
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions31.1% (best)12.7%—
Price per million tokens
Input$2.00$0.40 (best)$0.66
Output$8.00$1.60$1.00 (best)
Cached input$0.50$0.10 (best)—
Blended (3:1)$3.50$0.70 (best)$0.745
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial OpenAI APIMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window1,047,576 tokens (best)1,047,576 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output32,768 tokens (best)32,768 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesYesNo
PDFsYesYesNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoNoYes
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputYesYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietaryOpen
API model IDgpt-4.1gpt-4.1-mini—
API providers25 (best)241
ReleasedApr 14, 2025Apr 14, 2025Mar 5, 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 2024Apr 2024Apr 2024
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$36.00
  • GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
  • QwQ 32B$8.60
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini or QwQ 32B?

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against GPT-4.1 (53) and QwQ 32B (53). The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini or QwQ 32B?

GPT-4.1 mini is cheaper at $0.40 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). QwQ 32B costs $0.66 input / $1.00 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider); GPT-4.1 costs $2.00 input / $8.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI 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 $0.745 for QwQ 32B (1.1× as much) and $3.50 for GPT-4.1 (5× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

QwQ 32B scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): QwQ 32B 137.6 (#109 of 148), GPT-4.1 136.8 (#111 of 148) and GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 (#115 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (133.1–141.7 vs 133.6–138.4), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-4.1 66.9%, GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%, QwQ 32B 65.3%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — QwQ 32B 59.2%, GPT-4.1 mini 44.7%, GPT-4.1 38.3%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4.1 mini and QwQ 32B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, QwQ 32B 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 and GPT-4.1 mini have the largest context windows (1,047,576 and 1,047,576 tokens), against 131,072 for QwQ 32B. Maximum output per response: GPT-4.1 up to 32,768, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768, QwQ 32B up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-4.1 accepts text, images and PDFs; GPT-4.1 mini accepts text, images and PDFs; QwQ 32B accepts text. GPT-4.1 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

QwQ 32B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 mini is proprietary.

Which is newer?

GPT-4.1 is the newest, released Apr 14, 2025. GPT-4.1 mini came out Apr 14, 2025; QwQ 32B came out Mar 5, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 Apr 2024, GPT-4.1 mini Apr 2024, QwQ 32B 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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