GPT-4.1 mini vs o3-mini

Pick o3-mini 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 need the larger 1M context window.

o3-mini is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 56 to 46. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

o3-mini's sharpest advantage is in coding, where it averages 49.3 against 23.6. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is SWE-bench Verified, 23.6% to 49.3%.

o3-mini is also the more expensive model on tokens at $1.10 input / $4.40 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.40 input / $1.60 output per 1M tokens for GPT-4.1 mini. That is roughly 2.8x on output cost alone. o3-mini 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-4.1 mini gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 200K for o3-mini.