o3-mini vs GPT-4.1

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

o3-mini is clearly ahead on the aggregate, 56 to 43. 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 mathematics, where it averages 87.3 against 26.4. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is AIME 2024, 87.3 to 26.4. GPT-4.1 does hit back in coding, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.

GPT-4.1 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $2.00 input / $8.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $1.10 input / $4.40 output per 1M tokens for o3-mini. o3-mini is the reasoning model in the pair, while GPT-4.1 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 gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 200K for o3-mini.

Quick Verdict

Pick o3-mini if you want the stronger benchmark profile. GPT-4.1 only becomes the better choice if coding is the priority or you need the larger 1M context window.

Knowledge

o3-mini

o3-mini

82.1

GPT-4.1

78.3

86.9
MMLU
90.2
77.2
GPQA
66.3

Coding

GPT-4.1

o3-mini

49.3

GPT-4.1

54.6

49.3
SWE-bench Verified
54.6

Mathematics

o3-mini

o3-mini

87.3

GPT-4.1

26.4

87.3
AIME 2024
26.4

Reasoning

Tie

Instruction Following

o3-mini

o3-mini

93.9

GPT-4.1

87.4

93.9
IFEval
87.4

Multilingual

Tie

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, o3-mini or GPT-4.1?

o3-mini is ahead overall, 56 to 43. The biggest single separator in this matchup is AIME 2024, where the scores are 87.3 and 26.4.

Which is better for knowledge tasks, o3-mini or GPT-4.1?

o3-mini has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 82.1 versus 78.3. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for coding, o3-mini or GPT-4.1?

GPT-4.1 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 54.6 versus 49.3. Inside this category, SWE-bench Verified is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for math, o3-mini or GPT-4.1?

o3-mini has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 87.3 versus 26.4. Inside this category, AIME 2024 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for instruction following, o3-mini or GPT-4.1?

o3-mini has the edge for instruction following in this comparison, averaging 93.9 versus 87.4. Inside this category, IFEval is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Last updated: March 9, 2026

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