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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 vs GPT-4.1 mini

GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 60 to 44 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Anthropic

    Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2

    Released Oct 22, 2024

    44/100
    • ECI133.5
    • Price$3.00 / $15.00
    • Context200K
    Full specs Remove Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2
  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 Sonnet 3.5 v2 (44). It leads on capability, price, 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 · Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 133.5
  • Lowest priceGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 $6.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 200,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsClaude Sonnet 3.5 v2: 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 Sonnet 3.5 v2GPT-4.1 mini
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%5759
Price25%1357
Inputs & features15%6070
Context window10%3261
Overall100%44/10060/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 vs GPT-4.1 mini specifications side by side
SpecificationClaude Sonnet 3.5 v2AnthropicGPT-4.1 miniOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)133.5135.0 (best)
ECI rank#119 of 148#115 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions55.3%65.9% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—6.7%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics8.5%44.7% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—12.7%
Price per million tokens
Input$3.00$0.40 (best)
Output$15.00$1.60 (best)
Cached input—$0.10
Blended (3:1)$6.00$0.70 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 1 providersOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window200,000 tokens1,047,576 tokens (best)
Max output8,192 tokens32,768 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model ID—gpt-4.1-mini
API providers124 (best)
ReleasedOct 22, 2024Apr 14, 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 30, 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.

  • Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2$60.00
  • GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 or GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 (44). It leads on capability, price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 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 Sonnet 3.5 v2 costs $3.00 input / $15.00 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 $6.00 for Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 (8.6× 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 Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 133.5 (#119 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (131.2–136.6 vs 129.2–137.5), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%, Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 55.3%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-4.1 mini 44.7%, Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 8.5%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 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 200,000 for Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2. Maximum output per response: Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 up to 8,192, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 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 Sonnet 3.5 v2 and GPT-4.1 mini are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

GPT-4.1 mini is the newest, released Apr 14, 2025. Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 came out Oct 22, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 Apr 30, 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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