o1 vs GPT-4o mini
Pricing, context window, and benchmark comparison · Last updated April 2026
GPT-4o mini is cheaper than o1 at $0.15/1M/1M vs $15.00/1M/1M input tokens — a 100.0x cost difference. o1 scores higher on quality benchmarks (ELO 1350). Choose GPT-4o mini for cost-sensitive workloads; choose o1 for maximum quality.
Which is cheaper: o1 or GPT-4o mini?
GPT-4o mini is the cheaper option at $0.15/1M per 1M input tokens, compared to $15.00/1M for o1. That is a 100.0x cost difference on input tokens. Output pricing follows a similar pattern: o1 charges $60.00/1M/1M vs $0.60/1M/1M for GPT-4o mini.
Which has better quality: o1 or GPT-4o mini?
Based on LMSYS Chatbot Arena rankings, o1 achieves a higher ELO score (1350 vs 1272), suggesting stronger performance on open-ended tasks. o1 excels at best-in-class reasoning on complex problems. GPT-4o mini is known for extremely low cost — cheapest flagship-family model.
Which should you choose: o1 or GPT-4o mini?
- → Best-in-class reasoning on complex problems
- → Exceptional at math, science, and formal logic
- → Large 200K context window
- → Extremely low cost — cheapest flagship-family model
- → Fast inference
- → Good at structured data extraction
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper: o1 or GPT-4o mini?
GPT-4o mini is cheaper at $0.15/1M per 1M input tokens, making it 100.0x more affordable.
Which has better quality: o1 or GPT-4o mini?
o1 scores higher on the LMSYS Chatbot Arena with an ELO of 1350, suggesting better overall quality for most tasks.
Which has a larger context window: o1 or GPT-4o mini?
o1 has a larger context window at 200K tokens.
Should I choose o1 or GPT-4o mini?
Choose GPT-4o mini if cost is the priority. Choose o1 if benchmark quality is most important. Consider your specific use case: o1 is best for reasoning and math, while GPT-4o mini excels at customer-support and data-extraction.
Is o1 or GPT-4o mini open source?
o1 is proprietary. GPT-4o mini is proprietary.