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Model comparison

GPT-4o vs o1

Data verified

Head-to-head evidence from 12 shared benchmark results across 6 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.

OpenAI
41.49/100
Margin
6.6pts
winning →
OpenAI
48.1/100
0 category wins1 category wins

Public leaderboard positions: GPT-4o #165 (Supported); o1 #129 (Estimated). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.

Evidence parity. GPT-4o and o1 share 12 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 1 result is unique to GPT-4o; 4 to o1.

Updated July 24, 2026
Shared results
12
GPT-4o only
1
o1 only
4
Comparable categories
1 / 8

Pick o1 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. GPT-4o 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.

Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 12 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

o1 is clearly ahead on the BenchAlign aggregate, 48.1 to 41.49. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

o1's sharpest advantage is in mathematics, where it averages 9.3 against 0.3. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3), 0.345% to 9.310%.

o1 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $15.00 input / $60.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $2.50 input / $10.00 output per 1M tokens for GPT-4o. That is roughly 6.0x on output cost alone. o1 is the reasoning model in the pair, while GPT-4o 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. o1 gives you the larger context window at 200K, compared with 128K for GPT-4o.

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 scores and score margins for GPT-4o and o1
CategoryGPT-4oΔo1
MathGPT-4o0.3Margin 9.0o19.3
KnowledgeGPT-4oNot measuredMarginNo overlapo175.7
Inst. FollowingGPT-4oNot measuredMarginNo overlapo192.2

Decisive benchmark drivers

The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.

More
A · GPT-4oB · o1
  1. FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)

    Math
    Source ↗
    A 0.345%B 9.310%
    Winner: o1Δ 9
    FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3): GPT-4o scored 0.345%; o1 scored 9.310%. o1 wins this benchmark.

Operational comparison

Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.

MetricGPT-4oo1Comparison
Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokensGPT-4o$2.5 input / $10 outputo1$15 input / $60 outputGPT-4o has the lower combined listed price.
Generation speedtokens per secondGPT-4o131 tok/so198 tok/sGPT-4o has the higher measured throughput.
First-answer latencyseconds to first tokenGPT-4o0.81 so132.29 sGPT-4o reaches the first token sooner.
Context windowmaximum listed tokensGPT-4o128Ko1200Ko1 lists the larger context window.

Benchmark Deep Dive

Agentic
BenchmarkGPT-4oo1Result
τ²-bench resultsSource 25.1%62.6%o1 leads
Coding
BenchmarkGPT-4oo1Result
AA-SciCodeSource 33.3%35.8%o1 leads
AA Coding IndexSource 39.7%Not comparable
Reasoning
BenchmarkGPT-4oo1Result
AA-LCRSource 0.0%59.3%o1 leads
CritPtSource 0.0%0.3%o1 leads
Knowledge
BenchmarkGPT-4oo1Result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource 11.2%23.4%o1 leads
AA-GPQA DiamondSource 54.3%74.7%o1 leads
AA-HLESource 3.3%7.7%o1 leads
AA-Omniscience IndexSource -10.7%-10.5%o1 leads
AA-Omniscience AccuracySource 19.7%34.7%o1 leads
AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource 37.9%69.3%GPT-4o leads
MMLUSource 91.8%Not comparable
GPQASource 75.7%Not comparable
Matho1 wins
BenchmarkGPT-4oo1Result
FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)Source 0.345%9.310%o1 leads
Multimodal
BenchmarkGPT-4oo1Result
Design Arena WebsiteSource 861Not comparable
Inst. Following
BenchmarkGPT-4oo1Result
AA-IFBenchSource 34.3%70.3%o1 leads
IFEvalSource 92.2%Not comparable
Frequently Asked Questions (2)

Which is better, GPT-4o or o1?

o1 is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 48.1 to 41.49. The biggest single separator in this matchup is FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3), where the scores are 0.345% and 9.310%.

Which is better for math, GPT-4o or o1?

o1 has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 9.3 versus 0.3. Inside this category, FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3) is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Related Comparisons

Last updated: July 24, 2026

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