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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Claude Opus 4.1 vs GPT-4.1 mini

GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 60 to 49 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Anthropic

    Claude Opus 4.1

    Released Aug 5, 2025

    49/100
    • ECI144.1
    • Price$15.00 / $75.00
    • Context200K
    Full specs Remove Claude Opus 4.1
  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 Claude Opus 4.1 (49). It leads on price and context window. Claude Opus 4.1 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityClaude Opus 4.1Capabilities Index (ECI): Claude Opus 4.1 144.1 · GPT-4.1 mini 135.0
  • Lowest priceGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · Claude Opus 4.1 $30.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · Claude Opus 4.1 200,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsClaude Opus 4.1: Text, Images, PDFs · GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightClaude Opus 4.1GPT-4.1 mini
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%7159
Price25%057
Inputs & features15%7070
Context window10%3261
Overall100%49/10060/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Claude Opus 4.1 vs GPT-4.1 mini specifications side by side
SpecificationClaude Opus 4.1AnthropicGPT-4.1 miniOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)144.1 (best)135.0
ECI rank#81 of 148 (best)#115 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions77.3% (best)65.9%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics12.6% (best)6.7%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics68.9% (best)44.7%
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues73.4%—
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—12.7%
Price per million tokens
Input$15.00$0.40 (best)
Output$75.00$1.60 (best)
Cached input—$0.10
Blended (3:1)$30.00$0.70 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 14 providersOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window200,000 tokens1,047,576 tokens (best)
Max output32,000 tokens32,768 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model ID—gpt-4.1-mini
API providers1424 (best)
ReleasedAug 5, 2025Apr 14, 2025
Knowledge cutoffMar 31, 2025Apr 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.

  • Claude Opus 4.1$300.00
  • GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Claude Opus 4.1 or GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Claude Opus 4.1 (49). It leads on price and context window. Claude Opus 4.1 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.1 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). Claude Opus 4.1 costs $15.00 input / $75.00 output per million tokens (median across 14 API providers). 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 $30.00 for Claude Opus 4.1 (43× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Claude Opus 4.1 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Claude Opus 4.1 144.1 (#81 of 148) and GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 (#115 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (141.6–146.0 vs 131.2–136.6), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Claude Opus 4.1 77.3%, GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — Claude Opus 4.1 12.6%, GPT-4.1 mini 6.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Claude Opus 4.1 68.9%, GPT-4.1 mini 44.7%.

Which is better for coding?

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

GPT-4.1 mini has the largest context window at 1,047,576 tokens, against 200,000 for Claude Opus 4.1. Maximum output per response: Claude Opus 4.1 up to 32,000, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Claude Opus 4.1 accepts text, images and PDFs; GPT-4.1 mini accepts text, images and PDFs. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

No. Claude Opus 4.1 and GPT-4.1 mini are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Claude Opus 4.1 is the newest, released Aug 5, 2025. GPT-4.1 mini came out Apr 14, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Claude Opus 4.1 Mar 31, 2025, 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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