ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-5.4 mini vs North Mini Code vs Grok 4.3

North Mini Code comes out ahead, 71 to 56 and 49 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. OpenAI

    GPT-5.4 mini

    Released Mar 17, 2026

    49/100
    • ECI148.8
    • Price$0.75 / $4.50
    • Context400K
  2. Our pick

    Cohere

    North Mini Code

    Released Jun 9, 2026

    71/100
    • ECI—
    • PriceFree / Free
    • Context256K
  3. xAI

    Grok 4.3

    Released Apr 17, 2026

    56/100
    • ECI149.2
    • Price$1.25 / $2.50
    • Context1M
01 — Verdict

North Mini Code is our pick

North Mini Code is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Grok 4.3 (56) and GPT-5.4 mini (49). It leads on price. Grok 4.3 wins on 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 priceNorth Mini CodeNorth Mini Code Free · Grok 4.3 $1.56 · GPT-5.4 mini $1.69 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGrok 4.3Grok 4.3 1,000,000 · GPT-5.4 mini 400,000 · North Mini Code 256,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGrok 4.3GPT-5.4 mini: Text, Images · North Mini Code: Text · Grok 4.3: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingNorth Mini CodePublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-5.4 miniNorth Mini CodeGrok 4.3
Price50%3910041
Inputs & features30%704580
Context window20%443660
Overall100%49/10071/10056/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

GPT-5.4 mini vs North Mini Code vs Grok 4.3 specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-5.4 miniOpenAINorth Mini CodeCohereGrok 4.3xAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)148.8—149.2 (best)
ECI rank#56 of 148—#55 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions86.9%—88.8% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics51.2% (best)—42.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics88.9%—93.3% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions29.4%—33.2% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.75Free (best)$1.25
Output$4.50Free (best)$2.50
Cached input$0.075 (best)—$0.20
Blended (3:1)$1.69Free (best)$1.56
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateOver 200K: $2.50 / $5.00
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial Cohere APIOfficial xAI API
Limits
Context window400,000 tokens256,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)
Max output128,000 tokens (best)64,000 tokens30,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesNoYes
PDFsNoNoYes
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningYeslow · medium · high · xhighYeshighYeslow · medium · high
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputYesYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpenProprietary
API model IDgpt-5.4-mininorth-mini-code-1-0grok-4.3
API providers29 (best)227
ReleasedMar 17, 2026Jun 9, 2026Apr 17, 2026
Knowledge cutoffAug 31, 2025Sep 23, 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-5.4 mini$16.50
  • North Mini CodeFree
  • Grok 4.3$17.50
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-5.4 mini, North Mini Code or Grok 4.3?

North Mini Code is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Grok 4.3 (56) and GPT-5.4 mini (49). It leads on price. Grok 4.3 wins on 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-5.4 mini, North Mini Code or Grok 4.3?

North Mini Code is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). Grok 4.3 costs $1.25 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official xAI API price); GPT-5.4 mini costs $0.75 input / $4.50 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). North Mini Code is listed as free.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. GPT-5.4 mini has an ECI of 148.8, North Mini Code has not been scored yet and Grok 4.3 has an ECI of 149.2.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.4 mini, North Mini Code and Grok 4.3 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?

Grok 4.3 has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5.4 mini and 256,000 for North Mini Code. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.4 mini up to 128,000, North Mini Code up to 64,000, Grok 4.3 up to 30,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-5.4 mini accepts text and images; North Mini Code accepts text; Grok 4.3 accepts text, images and PDFs. Grok 4.3 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

North Mini Code publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-5.4 mini and Grok 4.3 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

North Mini Code is the newest, released Jun 9, 2026. Grok 4.3 came out Apr 17, 2026; GPT-5.4 mini came out Mar 17, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.4 mini Aug 31, 2025, North Mini Code Sep 23, 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.