ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

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.

  1. Our pick

    OpenAI

    GPT-4o mini

    Released Jul 18, 2024

    56/100
    • ECI126.6
    • Price$0.15 / $0.60
    • Context128K
  2. Mistral AI

    Mistral Large 2.1

    Released Nov 18, 2024

    38/100
    • ECI128.5
    • Price$2.00 / $6.00
    • Context131K
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01 — Verdict

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
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-4o miniMistral Large 2.1
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%4951
Price25%7727
Inputs & features15%7025
Context window10%2424
Overall100%56/10038/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

GPT-4o mini vs Mistral Large 2.1 specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-4o miniOpenAIMistral Large 2.1Mistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)126.6128.5 (best)
ECI rank#135 of 148#130 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions37.7%51.3% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics0.7%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics6.9%7.8% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions8.3%—
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 rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Max output16,384 tokens16,384 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsYesNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDgpt-4o-minimistral-large-2411
API providers21 (best)2
ReleasedJul 18, 2024Nov 18, 2024
Knowledge cutoffSep 2023Nov 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-4o mini$2.70
  • Mistral Large 2.1$32.00
04 — Questions

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.