GPT-5.4 vs GPT-4.1 mini

Side-by-side benchmark comparison across knowledge, coding, math, and reasoning.

GPT-5.4 is clearly ahead on the aggregate, 93 to 35. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

GPT-5.4's sharpest advantage is in mathematics, where it averages 98 against 23.1. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is AIME 2024, 99 to 23.1.

GPT-5.4 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $2.50 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-5.4 is the reasoning model in the pair, while GPT-4.1 mini is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. GPT-5.4 gives you the larger context window at 1.05M, compared with 1M for GPT-4.1 mini.

Quick Verdict

Pick GPT-5.4 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. GPT-4.1 mini only becomes the better choice if you want the cheaper token bill or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.

Knowledge

GPT-5.4

GPT-5.4

88

GPT-4.1 mini

75.9

99
MMLU
87.5
98
GPQA
64.2
96
SuperGPQA
-
94
OpenBookQA
-
93
MMLU-Pro
-
48
HLE
-

Coding

GPT-5.4

GPT-5.4

87.7

GPT-4.1 mini

23.6

95
HumanEval
-
84
SWE-bench Verified
23.6
84
LiveCodeBench
-

Mathematics

GPT-5.4

GPT-5.4

98

GPT-4.1 mini

23.1

99
AIME 2023
-
99
AIME 2024
23.1
99
AIME 2025
-
96
HMMT Feb 2023
-
98
HMMT Feb 2024
-
97
HMMT Feb 2025
-
97
BRUMO 2025
-
99
MATH-500
-

Reasoning

GPT-5.4
97
SimpleQA
-
94
MuSR
-
97
BBH
-

Instruction Following

GPT-5.4

GPT-5.4

96

GPT-4.1 mini

88.5

96
IFEval
88.5

Multilingual

GPT-5.4
96
MGSM
-

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, GPT-5.4 or GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-5.4 is ahead overall, 93 to 35. The biggest single separator in this matchup is AIME 2024, where the scores are 99 and 23.1.

Which is better for knowledge tasks, GPT-5.4 or GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-5.4 has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 88 versus 75.9. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for coding, GPT-5.4 or GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-5.4 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 87.7 versus 23.6. Inside this category, SWE-bench Verified is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for math, GPT-5.4 or GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-5.4 has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 98 versus 23.1. Inside this category, AIME 2024 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for instruction following, GPT-5.4 or GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-5.4 has the edge for instruction following in this comparison, averaging 96 versus 88.5. Inside this category, IFEval is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Last updated: March 9, 2026

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