Pricing comparison
GPT-5 mini vs GPT-4.1
Per-token pricing, full-workload cost ladders, and monthly volume projections. Numbers sourced directly from each provider's rate card.
OpenAI
GPT-5 mini
- Input
- $0.25 / 1M
- Output
- $2.00 / 1M
- Cached input
- $0.025 / 1M
- Context
- 400K
- Max output
- 128K
OpenAI
GPT-4.1
- Input
- $2.00 / 1M
- Output
- $8.00 / 1M
- Cached input
- $0.500 / 1M
- Context
- 1.0M
- Max output
- 33K
Cost per request
Four common workload shapes, input tokens and a 1:2 output ratio (a standard chat/completion pattern). Long-context surcharges apply automatically where the provider charges them.
| Scenario | Tokens (in / out) | GPT-5 mini | GPT-4.1 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short prompt | 100 / 200 | $0.0004 | $0.0018 | GPT-5 mini |
| Typical request | 1,000 / 2,000 | $0.0043 | $0.0180 | GPT-5 mini |
| Long document | 10,000 / 5,000 | $0.0125 | $0.0600 | GPT-5 mini |
| Large prompt | 100,000 / 10,000 | $0.0450 | $0.2800 | GPT-5 mini |
Monthly bill at scale
Projected monthly cost at typical request volume, assuming the "typical request" shape above (1k in, 2k out).
| Traffic | Req / month | GPT-5 mini | GPT-4.1 | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small SaaS | 1,000 | $4.25 | $18.00 | GPT-5 mini -$13.75 |
| Growing product | 10,000 | $42.50 | $180.00 | GPT-5 mini -$137.50 |
| Heavy usage | 100,000 | $425.00 | $1,800 | GPT-5 mini -$1,375 |
Which should you use?
For the typical chat-shape request (~1k input, 2k output), GPT-5 mini comes out 324% cheaper. If you're picking one as the default, that's usually the right choice on cost alone.
GPT-5 mini wins on both sides of the bill - cheaper input and cheaper output. If the quality gap is in your favour, there's no cost argument for the other side.
Context window differs: GPT-4.1 holds 1.0M of input vs 400K on the other side. If you regularly push past the smaller ceiling, the comparison ends there.
Live cost calculator
Type in any token counts - both prices update instantly. Uses base input/output rates (no cache discount, no long-context tier).
GPT-5 mini
$0.0013
per request
GPT-4.1
$0.0060
per request
Try both in the estimator →
Drop your actual prompt in, tokens are counted with the provider's own tokenizer, and the dollar number matches what lands on your invoice.
Frequently asked
- Which is cheaper, GPT-5 mini or GPT-4.1?
- On a typical 1,000-input / 2,000-output request, GPT-5 mini costs ~$0.0043 vs ~$0.0180 on GPT-4.1. Input or output rates can flip the answer for very lopsided workloads - see the cost ladder above.
- What's the difference in per-token pricing?
- GPT-5 mini charges $0.25 per 1M input tokens and $2.00 per 1M output tokens. GPT-4.1 charges $2.00 / $8.00 per 1M.
- Which has the bigger context window?
- GPT-4.1 is larger (1.0M) vs 400K on the other.
- Is there a cached-input discount on either?
- GPT-5 mini caches at $0.025 per 1M (90% off). GPT-4.1 caches at $0.500 per 1M (75% off). Workloads with repeated static prefixes see the biggest savings.
- How fresh is this comparison?
- GPT-5 mini was re-verified on 2026-04-06 and GPT-4.1 on 2026-04-06 against each provider's published rate card. Calcis re-checks every row on a rolling schedule and re-deploys when a provider changes pricing.
GPT-5 mini verified 2026-04-06 · GPT-4.1 verified 2026-04-06. Rate cards at OpenAI and OpenAI.