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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct vs GPT-4o mini

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct comes out ahead, 62 to 56 on our weighted score, though GPT-4o mini is 23% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Meta

    Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct

    Released Apr 5, 2025

    62/100
    • ECI129.7
    • Price$0.225 / $0.69
    • Context10M
    Full specs Remove Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct

  2. OpenAI

    GPT-4o mini

    Released Jul 18, 2024

    56/100
    • ECI126.6
    • Price$0.15 / $0.60
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove GPT-4o mini

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is our pick

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against GPT-4o mini (56). It leads on capability and context window. GPT-4o mini wins on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructCapabilities Index (ECI): Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 129.7 · GPT-4o mini 126.6
  • Lowest priceGPT-4o miniGPT-4o mini $0.263 · Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct $0.341 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructLlama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 10,000,000 · GPT-4o mini 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4o miniLlama 4 Scout 17B Instruct: Text, Images · GPT-4o mini: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructGPT-4o mini
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%5249
Price25%7277
Inputs & features15%5070
Context window10%10024
Overall100%62/10056/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct vs GPT-4o mini specifications side by side
SpecificationLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructMetaGPT-4o miniOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)129.7 (best)126.6
ECI rank#126 of 148 (best)#135 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions51.8% (best)37.7%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—0.7%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics7.8% (best)6.9%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—8.3%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.225$0.15 (best)
Output$0.69$0.60 (best)
Cached input—$0.075
Blended (3:1)$0.341$0.263 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 4 providersOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window10,000,000 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output16,384 tokens16,384 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model ID—gpt-4o-mini
API providers421 (best)
ReleasedApr 5, 2025Jul 18, 2024
Knowledge cutoffAug 2024Sep 2023
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.

  • Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct$3.63
  • GPT-4o mini$2.70
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct or GPT-4o mini?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against GPT-4o mini (56). It leads on capability and context window. GPT-4o mini wins on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct or GPT-4o mini?

GPT-4o mini is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct costs $0.225 input / $0.69 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.263 per million tokens for GPT-4o mini versus $0.341 for Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct (1.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 129.7 (#126 of 148) and GPT-4o mini 126.6 (#135 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (124.8–131.4 vs 120.5–128.5), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 51.8%, GPT-4o mini 37.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 7.8%, GPT-4o mini 6.9%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct and GPT-4o mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 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?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct has the largest context window at 10,000,000 tokens, against 128,000 for GPT-4o mini. Maximum output per response: Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct up to 16,384, GPT-4o mini up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct accepts text and images; GPT-4o mini accepts text, images and PDFs. GPT-4o mini handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4o mini is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is the newest, released Apr 5, 2025. GPT-4o mini came out Jul 18, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct Aug 2024, GPT-4o mini Sep 2023.

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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