GPT-4.1 Mini vs GPT-5

Updated October 21, 2026. 84 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.

Replace GPT-4.1 Mini Replace GPT-5

GPT-4.1 MiniOpenAI

Coding: 28.5
Overall: 10.2
Output $/M: $1.60

GPT-5OpenAI

Coding: 72.2
Overall: 23.0
Output $/M: $10.00

vs boards won of 84 shared

Decision reading

Pick GPT-5 for coding: it scores 72.2 on the Vibe Coding Index against 28.5 for GPT-4.1 Mini.

Pick GPT-4.1 Mini when output tokens cost 6.3x less, or when the context window is larger, 1.05M against 400K tokens.

Model AGPT-4.1 MiniOpenAI28.5/1002 independent benchmarks$1.818 per solved task Model BGPT-5OpenAI72.2/1003 independent benchmarks$0.39 per solved task

8425

Shared results: 84
GPT-4.1 Mini only: 0
GPT-5 only: 25
Like-for-like categories: 8 of 9

Shared results can support a head-to-head reading. Results only one model has describe coverage, not superiority.

Which one for your work

Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.

Coding
Vibe Coding Index, four public coding benchmarks
GPT-5
GPT-5 scores 72.2 against 28.5.
2 and 3 benchmarks behind the scores
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
GPT-5
GPT-5 leads, 23.0 against 10.2.
Same board, both measured
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
GPT-5
GPT-5 leads, 85.6% against 67.9%.
Same board, both measured
Math
AIME
GPT-5
GPT-5 leads, 93.4% against 49.4%.
Same board, both measured
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
GPT-5
GPT-5 leads, 86.5% against 77.2%.
Same board, both measured
Web design
Design Arena: websites
GPT-5
GPT-5 leads, 1185 against 997.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
GPT-4.1 Mini
GPT-4.1 Mini takes 1.05M tokens against 400K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
GPT-4.1 Mini
GPT-4.1 Mini $0.0012, GPT-5 $0.0063 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
GPT-5
GPT-4.1 Mini $1.818, GPT-5 $0.39.
Published attempt cost and pass rate

At a glance

Coding index: GPT-4.1 Mini 28.5 from 2 benchmarks, GPT-5 72.2 from 3 benchmarks.
Widest category: Agentic work, 33.6 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
Widest single gap: ARC-AGI: GPT-4.1 Mini 3.5% against GPT-5 65.7%, 62.2 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
Output price: GPT-4.1 Mini $1.60 against GPT-5 $10.00 per million output tokens, 6.3x apart.
Context window: GPT-4.1 Mini takes 1.05M tokens, GPT-5 400K.

Benchmark by benchmark

First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.

Boards won, where both have a result
Category	GPT-4.1 Mini	GPT-5
Coding	0	9
Intelligence	0	2
Agentic work	0	1
Reasoning	0	14
Math	0	10
Knowledge	1	11
Web design	0	6
General	0	30
All shared boards	1	83

CodingLike-for-likeFour of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index09

Coding benchmarks for GPT-4.1 Mini and GPT-5
Benchmark	GPT-4.1 Mini	GPT-5	Leader
Aider polyglot	32.4%	88.0%	GPT-5
SWE-bench Verified	23.9%	74.4%	GPT-5
LMArena WebDev	Not measured	1418	Only GPT-5 measured
AA Coding Index	20.2	37.8	GPT-5
LiveCodeBench (Vals AI)	58.2%	85.9%	GPT-5
SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI)	Not measured	69.0%	Only GPT-5 measured
Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI)	Not measured	20.1%	Only GPT-5 measured
LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run)	48.3%	84.6%	GPT-5
Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run)	7.6%	37.9%	GPT-5
Terminal-Bench	Not measured	49.6%	Only GPT-5 measured
GSO-Bench	Not measured	6.9%	Only GPT-5 measured
WeirdML	37.6%	60.7%	GPT-5
ALE-Bench	Not measured	807.6	Only GPT-5 measured
LMArena Text: coding	1367	1436	GPT-5
LMArena Text: software and IT	1360	1420	GPT-5
LMArena WebDev: HTML	Not measured	1427	Only GPT-5 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 22 boards here

IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02

Intelligence benchmarks for GPT-4.1 Mini and GPT-5
Benchmark	GPT-4.1 Mini	GPT-5	Leader
AA Intelligence Index	10.2	23.0	GPT-5
Epoch Capabilities Index	134.9	150.0	GPT-5

Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01

Agentic work benchmarks for GPT-4.1 Mini and GPT-5
Benchmark	GPT-4.1 Mini	GPT-5	Leader
τ²-Bench Telecom	52.9%	86.5%	GPT-5
METR time horizons	Not measured	69.6%	Only GPT-5 measured
Remote Labor Index	Not measured	1.7%	Only GPT-5 measured
GDPval	Not measured	34.8%	Only GPT-5 measured
BALROG	Not measured	32.8%	Only GPT-5 measured
DeepResearch Bench	Not measured	49.6%	Only GPT-5 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 33 boards here

ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index014

Reasoning benchmarks for GPT-4.1 Mini and GPT-5
Benchmark	GPT-4.1 Mini	GPT-5	Leader
GPQA Diamond	67.9%	85.6%	GPT-5
MMMU Pro (Vals AI)	70.5%	81.5%	GPT-5
GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run)	66.4%	85.4%	GPT-5
Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run)	5.0%	28.5%	GPT-5
GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run)	65.8%	86.2%	GPT-5
ARC-AGI	3.5%	65.7%	GPT-5
ARC-AGI-2	0.0%	9.9%	GPT-5
SimpleBench	Not measured	56.7%	Only GPT-5 measured
Chess puzzles	1.0%	36.0%	GPT-5
Mystery game puzzles	7.0%	23.0%	GPT-5
EBR-bench	Not measured	12.7%	Only GPT-5 measured
VPCT	Not measured	66.0%	Only GPT-5 measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts	1349	1415	GPT-5
LMArena Text: expert	1338	1419	GPT-5
LMArena Text: hard prompts in English	1362	1419	GPT-5
LMArena Vision: diagrams	1182	1252	GPT-5
LMArena Vision: homework	1214	1278	GPT-5
Neither model has a result on the other 4 boards here

MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index010

Math benchmarks for GPT-4.1 Mini and GPT-5
Benchmark	GPT-4.1 Mini	GPT-5	Leader
AIME	49.4%	93.4%	GPT-5
MATH 500 (Vals AI)	88.0%	96.0%	GPT-5
MGSM (Vals AI)	87.8%	92.8%	GPT-5
AA Math Index	46.3	94.3	GPT-5
AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run)	46.3%	94.3%	GPT-5
OTIS Mock AIME	44.7%	91.4%	GPT-5
FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3	6.7%	55.4%	GPT-5
FrontierMath, tier 4	Not measured	22.0%	Only GPT-5 measured
ProofBench	Not measured	18.0%	Only GPT-5 measured
MATH level 5	87.3%	98.1%	GPT-5
LMArena Text: math	1343	1407	GPT-5
LMArena Text: mathematical work	1347	1405	GPT-5
Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here

KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index111

Knowledge benchmarks for GPT-4.1 Mini and GPT-5
Benchmark	GPT-4.1 Mini	GPT-5	Leader
MMLU Pro	77.2%	86.5%	GPT-5
LegalBench (Vals AI)	78.0%	86.0%	GPT-5
CaseLaw (Vals AI)	Not measured	66.5%	Only GPT-5 measured
CorpFin (Vals AI)	57.9%	61.1%	GPT-5
TaxEval (Vals AI)	71.9%	73.4%	GPT-5
MortgageTax (Vals AI)	65.5%	65.5%	GPT-4.1 Mini
MedQA (Vals AI)	84.6%	96.3%	GPT-5
MedCode (Vals AI)	Not measured	49.6%	Only GPT-5 measured
MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run)	78.1%	87.1%	GPT-5
SimpleQA Verified	12.7%	50.1%	GPT-5
GeoBench	Not measured	81.0%	Only GPT-5 measured
LMArena Text: science	1328	1416	GPT-5
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare	1324	1413	GPT-5
LMArena Text: legal and government	1343	1431	GPT-5
LMArena Text: business and finance	1322	1400	GPT-5
Neither model has a result on the other 2 boards here

Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index06

Web design benchmarks for GPT-4.1 Mini and GPT-5
Benchmark	GPT-4.1 Mini	GPT-5	Leader
Design Arena: websites	997	1185	GPT-5
Design Arena: UI components	961	1179	GPT-5
Design Arena: game dev	1071	1185	GPT-5
Design Arena: data viz	1034	1221	GPT-5
Design Arena: 3D	837	1056	GPT-5
Design Arena: all code categories	994	1168	GPT-5
Design Arena: SVG	Not measured	1188	Only GPT-5 measured
Design Arena: ASCII art	Not measured	1140	Only GPT-5 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here

GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index030

General benchmarks for GPT-4.1 Mini and GPT-5
Benchmark	GPT-4.1 Mini	GPT-5	Leader
SAGE (Vals AI)	Not measured	43.7%	Only GPT-5 measured
MedScribe (Vals AI)	Not measured	83.7%	Only GPT-5 measured
IFBench	38.3%	73.1%	GPT-5
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR)	44.0%	78.2%	GPT-5
DTBench	68.8%	90.7%	GPT-5
LMCA	21.1%	40.0%	GPT-5
Fiction.LiveBench	44.4%	97.2%	GPT-5
Creative writing (Lech Mazur)	Not measured	86.0%	Only GPT-5 measured
LMArena Text	1341	1406	GPT-5
LMArena Text: instruction following	1333	1388	GPT-5
LMArena Text: creative writing	1299	1365	GPT-5
LMArena Vision	1181	1232	GPT-5
LMArena Text: English	1356	1409	GPT-5
LMArena Text: non-English	1318	1397	GPT-5
LMArena Text: Chinese	1329	1422	GPT-5
LMArena Text: German	1350	1416	GPT-5
LMArena Text: Japanese	1290	1409	GPT-5
LMArena Text: Korean	1298	1360	GPT-5
LMArena Text: French	1358	1409	GPT-5
LMArena Text: Spanish	1319	1399	GPT-5
LMArena Text: Russian	1324	1407	GPT-5
LMArena Text: Polish	1326	1431	GPT-5
LMArena Text: multi-turn	1354	1426	GPT-5
LMArena Text: longer queries	1344	1399	GPT-5
LMArena Text: writing and language	1319	1384	GPT-5
LMArena Text: entertainment and media	1300	1379	GPT-5
LMArena Vision: English	1191	1231	GPT-5
LMArena Vision: Chinese	1186	1267	GPT-5
LMArena Vision: reading text	1188	1246	GPT-5
LMArena Vision: humor	1182	1219	GPT-5
LMArena Vision: captioning	1174	1212	GPT-5
LMArena Vision: recognizing things	1187	1263	GPT-5
LMArena Vision: creative writing	1182	1210	GPT-5
Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here

Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared

Image generation benchmarks for GPT-4.1 Mini and GPT-5
Benchmark	GPT-4.1 Mini	GPT-5	Leader
Neither model has a result on 5 boards here

What each workload costs

Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.

Chat turn

1K input + 500 output tokens

GPT-4.1 Mini$0.0012Fits in one request

GPT-5$0.0063Fits in one request

GPT-4.1 Mini costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

GPT-4.1 Mini$0.025Fits in one request

GPT-5$0.092Fits in one request

GPT-4.1 Mini costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

GPT-4.1 Mini$0.096Fits in one request

GPT-5$0.350Fits in one request

GPT-4.1 Mini costs less

Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.

Specification differences

The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.

Specifications of GPT-4.1 Mini and GPT-5
Specification	OpenAI GPT-4.1 Mini	OpenAI GPT-5
Maker	OpenAI	OpenAI
Weights	No public weights listed	No public weights listed
Released	April 14, 2025	August 7, 2025
Context window	1.05M	400K
Input $/Mtok	$0.40	$1.25
Output $/Mtok	$1.60	$10.00
Coding index	28.5	72.2
Independent measurements behind it	2	3
Cost per solved task	$1.818	$0.39
Source	OpenRouter listing	OpenRouter listing

Questions

Is GPT-4.1 Mini better than GPT-5 for coding?

Pick GPT-5 for coding: it scores 72.2 on the Vibe Coding Index against 28.5 for GPT-4.1 Mini. Pick GPT-4.1 Mini when output tokens cost 6.3x less, or when the context window is larger, 1.05M against 400K tokens.

Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 Mini or GPT-5?

GPT-4.1 Mini costs $0.40 per million input tokens and $1.60 per million output tokens; GPT-5 costs $1.25 and $10.00. Per solved SWE-bench Verified task, GPT-4.1 Mini costs $1.818 and GPT-5 $0.39.

Which has the bigger context window, GPT-4.1 Mini or GPT-5?

GPT-4.1 Mini, with 1.05M tokens against 400K.

How many benchmarks is the GPT-4.1 Mini vs GPT-5 comparison based on?

84 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. GPT-4.1 Mini's coding index rests on 2 independent benchmarks and GPT-5's on 3. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.

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<iframe src="https://llmbenchmark.ai/embed/compare/gpt-4-1-mini-vs-gpt-5" title="GPT-4.1 Mini vs GPT-5, LLMBenchmark.ai" width="100%" height="360" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy"></iframe>
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Decision reading

Which one for your work

Coding

Intelligence

Reasoning

Math

Knowledge

Web design

Long documents

Everyday cost

Cost per solved task

At a glance

Benchmark by benchmark

What each workload costs

Chat turn

Repository review

Agent loop

Specification differences

Questions

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