GPT-4.1 nano vs GPT-4o mini
Benchmarks, API Token Pricing, Context Window & Speed Comparison
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GPT-4.1 nano by OpenAI and GPT-4o mini by OpenAI represent two of the frontier AI models analyzed in our comprehensive 2026 AI benchmark and LLM comparison. In this head-to-head evaluation, we examine API token pricing, context window specifications, inference speed (tokens per second), and empirical reasoning performance. From a pure economic perspective, GPT-4.1 nano holds a notable pricing advantage for token ingestion. On output generation, GPT-4.1 nano is more economical per million generated tokens. In data-heavy architectures requiring extensive repository or document analysis, GPT-4.1 nano provides an expanded memory horizon with 1,048K tokens. In latency-sensitive production environments, GPT-4.1 nano leads in tokens-per-second throughput, making it ideal for real-time conversational agents and high-concurrency workflows. Below is the complete empirical head-to-head breakdown across cost, speed, context, and capability matrices.
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GPT-4.1 nano
Cheapest 4.1The smallest and cheapest GPT-4.1 lane, aimed at classification, tagging and routing.
$0.10 / 1M
$0.40 / 1M
1.05M tokens
24%
GPT-4o mini
Compact UtilityOpenAI's compact, cost-efficient small model designed to replace GPT-3.5 Turbo across high-volume classification, extraction, and utility tasks.
$0.15 / 1M
$0.60 / 1M
128K tokens
24.5%
Key Differences at a Glance
- GPT-4.1 nano is 1.6x cheaper for API usage (input + output tokens combined).
- GPT-4.1 nano has a larger context window (1M vs 128K tokens).
- GPT-4.1 nano is faster at 220 tok/s vs 140 tok/s.
- GPT-4o mini leads on SWE-bench coding (24.5% vs 24.0%).
| Feature | GPT-4.1 nano | GPT-4o mini |
|---|---|---|
Intelligence Index Composite reasoning & knowledge score (0-100) | 26 | 30 |
Provider | OpenAI | OpenAI |
Input Price Cost per million input tokens | $0.10 / 1M | $0.15 / 1M |
Output Price Cost per million output tokens | $0.40 / 1M | $0.60 / 1M |
Blended Price Weighted 7:2:1 cache:input:output per 1M | $0.08 / 1M | $0.14 / 1M |
Context Window Maximum input + output tokens | 1.05M tokens~1,571 A4 pages of text | 128K tokens~192 A4 pages of text |
Max Output Tokens Per single request | 33K | 16K |
Throughput Speed Tokens generated per second | 220 tok/s | 140 tok/s |
SWE-bench Verified Real-world software engineering | 24% | 24.5% |
GPQA Diamond Graduate-level reasoning | 38% | 40.2% |
Cached Input Price Prompt caching discount per 1M tokens | $0.03 / 1M | $0.07 / 1M |
Who Wins Where?
At-a-glance decision frameworkEmpirical Head-to-Head Benchmark Scores
Official evaluation metrics verified by independent third-party research labs.
Industry benchmark evaluating real-world GitHub issue resolution and multi-file debugging.
Challenging questions created by domain experts to test complex PhD-level reasoning.
Hardened reasoning and academic knowledge benchmark with reduced lucky-guess probability.
Crowdsourced human preference evaluation based on blind, head-to-head model battles.
Extremely difficult, closed-ended questions spanning the frontier of human expert knowledge.
Autonomous multi-step tasks executed inside a real command-line terminal environment.
Research-grade coding problems drawn from real scientific and numerical workloads.
Contamination-free competitive programming problems collected continuously over time.
American Invitational Mathematics Examination — multi-step Olympiad-level reasoning.
Accuracy when reasoning over very large inputs that fill the model context window.
Tokens emitted per second during active generation streaming.
Latency & Response Time
Time to first token (TTFT) and estimated end-to-end response time for a typical 500-token response.
Real-Time Interactive Token Cost Simulator
Adjust sliders to calculate projected monthly cloud API spending with prompt caching discounts.
GPT-4.1 nano · Strengths & Key Advantages
- Extremely cheap at $0.10 / $0.40 per 1M tokens
- Very fast, ideal for latency-sensitive routing
- Still carries the 1M-token context window
- Good enough for guardrails and safety pre-filtering
Considerations & Trade-offs
- The weakest GPT-4.1 variant by a wide margin
- Not suitable for open-ended reasoning or long-form writing
GPT-4o mini · Strengths & Key Advantages
- Economical pricing ($0.15 in / $0.60 out per 1M tokens)
- Full vision multimodal support at low cost
- High output token limit (16K tokens)
- Consistent function calling and JSON output reliability
Considerations & Trade-offs
- Limited reasoning for complex software architecture
- Slightly higher pricing than Gemini 2.0 Flash ($0.15 vs $0.10)
Token Use & Task Economics
Estimated cost and token consumption to complete one representative agentic task.
| Metric | GPT-4.1 nano | GPT-4o mini |
|---|---|---|
Cost per Task Estimated USD to finish one task | $0.04 | $0.16 |
Output Tokens / Task Tokens generated per task | 42K | 45K |
Reasoning Tokens / Task Thinking tokens burned per task | 0K | 0K |
Technical Specifications
Architecture, release timeline, capabilities, and modalities.
| Feature | GPT-4.1 nano | GPT-4o mini |
|---|---|---|
| Official API Model ID (SDK) | gpt-4-1-nano | gpt-4o-mini |
| API Protocol | OpenAI Responses API & Chat Completions v1 | OpenAI Responses API & Chat Completions v1 |
| Release Date | 2025-04 | 2024-07 |
| Knowledge Cutoff | June 2024 | October 2023 |
| Architecture | Dense multimodal transformer (nano) | Small Multimodal Dense |
| Parameters | Confidential | Confidential |
| Enterprise Rate Limits (RPM / TPM) | 10,000 – 30,000 RPM (Tier 5 Enterprise) · 4,000,000 – 10,000,000 TPM | 10,000 – 30,000 RPM (Tier 5 Enterprise) · 800,000 – 2,000,000 TPM |
| Long-Context Tier (>128K/200K) | Flat rate ($0.1/1M in) across full 1048K window | Flat rate ($0.15/1M in) across full 128K window |
| Prompt Cache Policy & TTL | Automatic prefix caching at $0.025/1M (no extra cache-write fee) | Automatic prefix caching at $0.075/1M (no extra cache-write fee) |
| Computer Use / GUI Agent | Supported (Screen coordinate grounding, browser & desktop GUI action loops) | Supported (Screen coordinate grounding, browser & desktop GUI action loops) |
| MCP & Parallel Tool Calling | Native MCP Client/Server ready · Parallel function calling · 100% Strict JSON Schema | Native MCP Client/Server ready · Parallel function calling · 100% Strict JSON Schema |
| Web Search Grounding & Sandbox | Native Web Search tool + Hosted Code Interpreter & File Search RAG | Native Web Search tool + Hosted Code Interpreter & File Search RAG |
| Official Fine-Tuning Support | Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT), Direct Preference (DPO) & Reinforcement Fine-Tuning (RFT) | Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT), Direct Preference (DPO) & Reinforcement Fine-Tuning (RFT) |
| Multimodal Token Billing | Text BPE (~4 chars/token) · Vision (~258–765 tokens per image tile) | Text BPE (~4 chars/token) · Vision (~258–765 tokens per image tile) |
| Quantization & Min GPU VRAM | Cloud-Hosted Proprietary (FP8 / BF16 Tensor Core Cluster) · Zero Local VRAM Required (100% Serverless Cloud API) | Cloud-Hosted Proprietary (FP8 / BF16 Tensor Core Cluster) · Zero Local VRAM Required (100% Serverless Cloud API) |
| Safety & Frontier Classification | OpenAI Preparedness Framework Audited & System Card Published | OpenAI Preparedness Framework Audited & System Card Published |
| Enterprise Compliance (ZDR/HIPAA/SOC2) | SOC2 Type II · GDPR · Zero Data Retention (ZDR) & HIPAA BAA Available on Enterprise Tier | SOC2 Type II · GDPR · Zero Data Retention (ZDR) & HIPAA BAA Available on Enterprise Tier |
| Input Modalities | text, vision | text, vision |
| Output Modalities | text | text |
GPT-4.1 nano vs GPT-4o mini: Quick Answers
Which is more intelligent, GPT-4.1 nano or GPT-4o mini?
GPT-4o mini is more intelligent. It scores 30 compared with 26 on the composite Intelligence Index.
Which model is faster?
GPT-4.1 nano is faster, generating 220 tokens per second compared with 140 tokens per second.
Which model is cheaper to run?
GPT-4.1 nano is cheaper at $0.08 per 1M tokens blended, compared with $0.14 (7:2:1 cache:input:output ratio).
Which model has lower latency?
GPT-4.1 nano has lower latency, with a time to first token of 0.22s compared with 0.31s.
Which model has a larger context window?
GPT-4.1 nano has a larger context window, supporting 1.05M tokens compared with 128K tokens.
Verdict
Verdict & Model Selection Recommendation: Choose GPT-4.1 nano if your priority is Bulk classification, tagging, guardrails and cheap agent routing. Its performance in demanding tasks justifies its operational token cost. Choose GPT-4o mini if your workflow prioritizes Data extraction, customer support routing, and lightweight web scraping. For large-scale batch processing or customer-facing conversational interfaces, its balance of speed and economics delivers superior ROI.
Frequently asked questions
How does GPT-4.1 nano compare to GPT-4o mini in API token pricing and cost per token?+
GPT-4.1 nano costs $0.10 per 1M input tokens and $0.40 per 1M output tokens, whereas GPT-4o mini costs $0.15 input and $0.60 output. Overall, GPT-4.1 nano is the more cost-effective model for high-volume API pipelines. Both models support prompt caching discounts of up to 90% for repeated prompt prefixes.
Which model has a larger context window: GPT-4.1 nano or GPT-4o mini?+
GPT-4.1 nano supports a context window of 1,048K tokens (~786k words), while GPT-4o mini supports 128K tokens (~96k words). Therefore, GPT-4.1 nano can process more textual data and document context in a single prompt.
Which AI model is better for software engineering and coding: GPT-4.1 nano or GPT-4o mini?+
GPT-4.1 nano scores 24% on SWE-bench Verified while GPT-4o mini scores 24.5%. For autonomous software engineering and multi-file debugging, GPT-4o mini holds the verified benchmark lead.
What is the difference in reasoning capability and extended thinking between GPT-4.1 nano and GPT-4o mini?+
GPT-4.1 nano is optimized for low-latency direct generation. In contrast, GPT-4o mini focuses on standard fast inference.
How does inference speed (tokens per second) compare between GPT-4.1 nano and GPT-4o mini?+
GPT-4.1 nano generates approximately 220 tokens per second, while GPT-4o mini delivers 140 tokens per second. In latency-sensitive production environments, GPT-4.1 nano provides faster time-to-first-token (TTFT) and higher streaming response velocity.
Can you implement a tiered LLM routing setup combining GPT-4.1 nano and GPT-4o mini to optimize costs?+
Yes! High-efficiency architectures route high-frequency routine classification and conversational tasks to GPT-4.1 nano to save operational costs, and dynamically escalate complex architectural queries or reasoning tasks to GPT-4o mini. This tiered routing pattern cuts overall API bills by up to 70%.
Understand key metrics like context window, token pricing, reasoning mode, and SWE-bench scores in our comprehensive AI glossary.
Related reading
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Benchmark scores, token prices, and rate limits evolve rapidly as AI labs release model updates. Always verify current specifications and pricing on the official provider documentation.
Sources: GetInfoUs Independent AI Benchmarks & Official API Specs