Is GPT-4.1 cheaper than GPT-4o mini?

On input tokens, GPT-4o mini is cheaper ($0.15 vs $2.00 per million). On output tokens, GPT-4o mini is cheaper. Total cost on a typical workload depends on your input:output ratio.

Which has the larger context window, GPT-4.1 or GPT-4o mini?

GPT-4.1 has a 1,047,576-token context window. GPT-4o mini fits 128,000 tokens.

How do I switch from GPT-4.1 to GPT-4o mini?

Update the model id in your API call: replace "gpt-4.1" with "gpt-4o-mini". Then verify cost impact on a sample of your real prompts using a token counter.

GPT-4.1 vs GPT-4o mini

Side-by-side comparison of GPT-4.1 (OpenAI) and GPT-4o mini (OpenAI). Exact API pricing per million tokens, context windows, output speed, and total cost on real-world prompts.

Specifications

Spec	GPT-4.1	GPT-4o mini
Provider	OpenAI	OpenAI
Model id	gpt-4.1	gpt-4o-mini
Input price (per 1M tokens)	$2.00	$0.15
Output price (per 1M tokens)	$8.00	$0.60
Context window	1,047,576	128,000
Output speed (tokens/sec)	~120	~130
Tokenizer encoding	o200k_base	o200k_base

Cost on real prompts

Total cost = (input tokens × input price) + (output tokens × output price). Numbers below use the exact pricing tables published by each provider.

Scenario	Input	Output	GPT-4.1	GPT-4o mini	Cheaper
Short question + answer	50	150	$0.001300	$0.000097	GPT-4o mini
Code review on one file	500	1,500	$0.013000	$0.000975	GPT-4o mini
Long document summary	5,000	500	$0.014000	$0.001050	GPT-4o mini
Heavy reasoning task	2,000	8,000	$0.068000	$0.005100	GPT-4o mini
Full codebase analysis	50,000	10,000	$0.180000	$0.013500	GPT-4o mini

Want the exact cost for your prompt instead of these examples? Open the cost calculator pre-loaded with both models →

When to pick which

Heuristics derived from the spec table above. Always validate on your own prompts before committing — these are starting points, not verdicts.

Pick GPT-4.1 for

•tasks needing a larger context window — gpt-4.1 fits 8x more tokens than gpt-4o-mini

Pick GPT-4o mini for

•output-heavy workloads — gpt-4o-mini is meaningfully cheaper per output token
•input-heavy workloads — gpt-4o-mini is cheaper per input token

Switching between them

For most use cases, switching providers means updating the model id and the request shape if the providers differ. Within the same provider, it's usually a single-line change.

From GPT-4.1 to GPT-4o mini

# Before
model = "gpt-4.1"

# After
model = "gpt-4o-mini"

If the providers differ (OpenAI vs OpenAI), you'll also need to swap the SDK / endpoint URL. Cross-provider migrations usually take 30 minutes to a few hours depending on how many features (streaming, function calling, tool use) you depend on.

Calculate cost on your own prompt

The examples above use generic input/output ratios. For an exact comparison, paste your real prompt into the calculator — it counts tokens with the right tokenizer for each model and shows side-by-side cost.

Open the calculator with both models →