GPT-4o mini vs Mistral Large 2.1
GPT-4o mini comes out ahead, 56 to 38 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
OpenAI
GPT-4o mini
56/100- ECI126.6
- Price$0.15 / $0.60
- Context128K
Mistral AI
Mistral Large 2.1
38/100- ECI128.5
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context131K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
GPT-4o mini is our pick
GPT-4o mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 56/100 against Mistral Large 2.1 (38). It leads on price and inputs & features. Mistral Large 2.1 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityMistral Large 2.1Capabilities Index (ECI): Mistral Large 2.1 128.5 · GPT-4o mini 126.6
- Lowest priceGPT-4o miniGPT-4o mini $0.263 · Mistral Large 2.1 $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextMistral Large 2.1Mistral Large 2.1 131,072 · GPT-4o mini 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-4o miniGPT-4o mini: Text, Images, PDFs · Mistral Large 2.1: Text
- Self-hostingMistral Large 2.1Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GPT-4o mini | Mistral Large 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 49 | 51 |
| Price | 25% | 77 | 27 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 25 |
| Context window | 10% | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 56/100 | 38/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 126.6 | 128.5 (best) |
| ECI rank | #135 of 148 | #130 of 148 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 37.7% | 51.3% (best) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 0.7% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 6.9% | 7.8% (best) |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 8.3% | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.15 (best) | $2.00 |
| Output | $0.60 (best) | $6.00 |
| Cached input | $0.075 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.263 (best) | $3.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Official Mistral API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 16,384 tokens | 16,384 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | Yes | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | gpt-4o-mini | mistral-large-2411 |
| API providers | 21 (best) | 2 |
| Released | Jul 18, 2024 | Nov 18, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 2023 | Nov 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-4o mini$2.70
Mistral Large 2.1$32.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-4o mini or Mistral Large 2.1?
GPT-4o mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 56/100 against Mistral Large 2.1 (38). It leads on price and inputs & features. Mistral Large 2.1 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4o mini or Mistral Large 2.1?
GPT-4o mini is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). Mistral Large 2.1 costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.263 per million tokens for GPT-4o mini versus $3.00 for Mistral Large 2.1 (11× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Mistral Large 2.1 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Mistral Large 2.1 128.5 (#130 of 148) and GPT-4o mini 126.6 (#135 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (123.8–130.8 vs 120.5–128.5), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Mistral Large 2.1 51.3%, GPT-4o mini 37.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Mistral Large 2.1 7.8%, GPT-4o mini 6.9%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4o mini and Mistral Large 2.1 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Mistral Large 2.1 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?
Mistral Large 2.1 has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for GPT-4o mini. Maximum output per response: GPT-4o mini up to 16,384, Mistral Large 2.1 up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-4o mini accepts text, images and PDFs; Mistral Large 2.1 accepts text. GPT-4o mini handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Mistral Large 2.1 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4o mini is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Mistral Large 2.1 is the newest, released Nov 18, 2024. GPT-4o mini came out Jul 18, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4o mini Sep 2023, Mistral Large 2.1 Nov 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.