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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Mistral Small 3.1 24B vs GPT-4.1 mini

GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 60 to 55 on our weighted score, though Mistral Small 3.1 24B is 2.5× cheaper per token.

  1. Mistral AI

    Mistral Small 3.1 24B

    Released Mar 17, 2025

    55/100
    • ECI127.5
    • Price$0.229 / $0.436
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Mistral Small 3.1 24B
  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 Mistral Small 3.1 24B (55). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Mistral Small 3.1 24B wins on price. 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 · Mistral Small 3.1 24B 127.5
  • Lowest priceMistral Small 3.1 24BMistral Small 3.1 24B $0.281 · GPT-4.1 mini $0.70 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · Mistral Small 3.1 24B 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniMistral Small 3.1 24B: Text, Images · GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingMistral Small 3.1 24BPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightMistral Small 3.1 24BGPT-4.1 mini
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%5059
Price25%7657
Inputs & features15%6070
Context window10%2461
Overall100%55/10060/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Mistral Small 3.1 24B vs GPT-4.1 mini specifications side by side
SpecificationMistral Small 3.1 24BMistral AIGPT-4.1 miniOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)127.5135.0 (best)
ECI rank#132 of 148#115 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions47.5%65.9% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—6.7%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics5.8%44.7% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—12.7%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.229 (best)$0.40
Output$0.436 (best)$1.60
Cached input—$0.10
Blended (3:1)$0.281 (best)$0.70
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 2 providersOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens1,047,576 tokens (best)
Max output16,384 tokens32,768 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model ID—gpt-4.1-mini
API providers224 (best)
ReleasedMar 17, 2025Apr 14, 2025
Knowledge cutoffJun 2024Apr 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.

  • Mistral Small 3.1 24B$3.16
  • GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Mistral Small 3.1 24B or GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Mistral Small 3.1 24B (55). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Mistral Small 3.1 24B wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Mistral Small 3.1 24B or GPT-4.1 mini?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B is cheaper at $0.229 input / $0.436 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). GPT-4.1 mini costs $0.40 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.281 per million tokens for Mistral Small 3.1 24B versus $0.70 for GPT-4.1 mini (2.5× 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 Mistral Small 3.1 24B 127.5 (#132 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (131.2–136.6 vs 122.6–129.4), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%, Mistral Small 3.1 24B 47.5%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-4.1 mini 44.7%, Mistral Small 3.1 24B 5.8%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mistral Small 3.1 24B 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 128,000 for Mistral Small 3.1 24B. Maximum output per response: Mistral Small 3.1 24B up to 16,384, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B 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?

Mistral Small 3.1 24B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 mini is proprietary.

Which is newer?

GPT-4.1 mini is the newest, released Apr 14, 2025. Mistral Small 3.1 24B came out Mar 17, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Small 3.1 24B Jun 2024, 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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