Model comparison
Claude 4 Sonnet vs GPT-4.1 mini
Head-to-head evidence from 14 shared benchmark results across 6 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: Claude 4 Sonnet #168 (Supported); GPT-4.1 mini #160 (Estimated). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Claude 4 Sonnet and GPT-4.1 mini share 14 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 2 results are unique to Claude 4 Sonnet; 8 to GPT-4.1 mini.
Updated July 24, 2026- Shared results
- 14
- Claude 4 Sonnet only
- 2
- GPT-4.1 mini only
- 8
- Comparable categories
- 1 / 8
Pick GPT-4.1 mini if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Claude 4 Sonnet only becomes the better choice if coding is the priority.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 14 shared benchmark results across 6 evidence categories; 1 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
GPT-4.1 mini has the cleaner BenchAlign overall profile here, landing at 43.1 versus 41.92. It is a real lead, but still close enough that category-level strengths matter more than the headline number.
Claude 4 Sonnet is also the more expensive model on tokens at $3.00 input / $15.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.40 input / $1.60 output per 1M tokens for GPT-4.1 mini. That is roughly 9.4x on output cost alone. GPT-4.1 mini gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 200K for Claude 4 Sonnet.
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | Claude 4 Sonnet | Δ | GPT-4.1 mini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | Claude 4 Sonnet72.7 | Margin← 49.1 | GPT-4.1 mini23.6 |
| Knowledge | Claude 4 SonnetNot measured | MarginNo overlap | GPT-4.1 mini64.2 |
| Math | Claude 4 SonnetNot measured | MarginNo overlap | GPT-4.1 mini4.5 |
| Inst. Following | Claude 4 SonnetNot measured | MarginNo overlap | GPT-4.1 mini88.5 |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
SWE-bench Verified
CodingA 72.7%B 23.6%Winner: Claude 4 SonnetΔ 49.1SWE-bench Verified: Claude 4 Sonnet scored 72.7%; GPT-4.1 mini scored 23.6%. Claude 4 Sonnet wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Claude 4 Sonnet | GPT-4.1 mini | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Claude 4 Sonnet$3 input / $15 output | GPT-4.1 mini$0.4 input / $1.6 output | GPT-4.1 mini has the lower combined listed price. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Claude 4 Sonnet40 tok/s | GPT-4.1 mini80 tok/s | GPT-4.1 mini has the higher measured throughput. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Claude 4 Sonnet1.33 s | GPT-4.1 mini0.76 s | GPT-4.1 mini reaches the first token sooner. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Claude 4 Sonnet200K | GPT-4.1 mini1M | GPT-4.1 mini lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic6 benchmarks
CodingClaude 4 Sonnet wins3 benchmarks
Reasoning2 benchmarks
Knowledge8 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude 4 Sonnet | GPT-4.1 mini | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 25.5% | 14.8% | Claude 4 Sonnet leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 68.3% | 66.4% | Claude 4 Sonnet leads |
| AA-HLESource | 4.0% | 4.6% | GPT-4.1 mini leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | -9.2% | -50.1% | Claude 4 Sonnet leads |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 22.4% | 17.5% | Claude 4 Sonnet leads |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 40.8% | 82.0% | Claude 4 Sonnet leads |
| MMLUSource | — | 87.5% | Not comparable |
| GPQASource | — | 64.2% | Not comparable |
Math1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude 4 Sonnet | GPT-4.1 mini | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)Source | — | 4.483% | Not comparable |
Multimodal2 benchmarks
Frequently Asked Questions (2)
Which is better, Claude 4 Sonnet or GPT-4.1 mini?
GPT-4.1 mini is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 43.1 to 41.92. The biggest single separator in this matchup is SWE-bench Verified, where the scores are 72.7% and 23.6%.
Which is better for coding, Claude 4 Sonnet or GPT-4.1 mini?
Claude 4 Sonnet has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 72.7 versus 23.6. Inside this category, SWE-bench Verified is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.