ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Magistral Small 1.2 vs GPT-4.1 mini

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

  1. Mistral AI

    Magistral Small 1.2

    Released Sep 18, 2025

    53/100
    • ECI131.4
    • Price$0.50 / $1.50
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Magistral Small 1.2
  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. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

GPT-4.1 mini is our pick

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Magistral Small 1.2 (53). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGPT-4.1 miniCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 · Magistral Small 1.2 131.4
  • Lowest priceGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · Magistral Small 1.2 $0.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · Magistral Small 1.2 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniMagistral Small 1.2: Text, Images · GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingMagistral Small 1.2Publishes downloadable weights (Apache 2.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightMagistral Small 1.2GPT-4.1 mini
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%5559
Price25%5657
Inputs & features15%6070
Context window10%2461
Overall100%53/10060/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Magistral Small 1.2 vs GPT-4.1 mini specifications side by side
SpecificationMagistral Small 1.2Mistral AIGPT-4.1 miniOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)131.4135.0 (best)
ECI rank#124 of 148#115 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions47.6%65.9% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—6.7%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics28.1%44.7% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—12.7%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.50$0.40 (best)
Output$1.50 (best)$1.60
Cached input—$0.10
Blended (3:1)$0.75$0.70 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 1 providersOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens1,047,576 tokens (best)
Max output131,072 tokens (best)32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenApache 2.0Proprietary
API model ID—gpt-4.1-mini
API providers124 (best)
ReleasedSep 18, 2025Apr 14, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Apr 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.

  • Magistral Small 1.2$8.00
  • GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Magistral Small 1.2 or GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Magistral Small 1.2 (53). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Magistral Small 1.2 or GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-4.1 mini is cheaper at $0.40 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). Magistral Small 1.2 costs $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). 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 $0.75 for Magistral Small 1.2 (1.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GPT-4.1 mini scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 (#115 of 148) and Magistral Small 1.2 131.4 (#124 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (131.2–136.6 vs 126.5–133.4), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%, Magistral Small 1.2 47.6%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-4.1 mini 44.7%, Magistral Small 1.2 28.1%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Magistral Small 1.2 and GPT-4.1 mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-4.1 mini 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?

GPT-4.1 mini has the largest context window at 1,047,576 tokens, against 131,072 for Magistral Small 1.2. Maximum output per response: Magistral Small 1.2 up to 131,072, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Magistral Small 1.2 accepts text and images; GPT-4.1 mini accepts text, images and PDFs. GPT-4.1 mini handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Magistral Small 1.2 publishes its weights (Apache 2.0) and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 mini is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Magistral Small 1.2 is the newest, released Sep 18, 2025. GPT-4.1 mini came out Apr 14, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 mini 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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