Codestral 2 vs GPT-4.1
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
Updated
Codestral 2 specs · GPT-4.1 specs- PriceCodestral 2
Codestral 2 is roughly 8.9× cheaper on output tokens ($0.90 vs $8.00 per 1M).
- Context windowGPT-4.1
GPT-4.1 accepts 1M tokens vs 256K, 3.9× the room for long documents and codebases.
- BenchmarksCodestral 2
Codestral 2 leads in 1 of 1 shared benchmarks; the biggest gap is on HumanEval (Python coding), where it scores 92.0 vs 90.6.
- ModalitiesGPT-4.1
GPT-4.1 supports 2 modalities (text, vision) vs 1 for Codestral 2.
- OpennessCodestral 2
Codestral 2 ships open weights (Mistral Non-Production License); GPT-4.1 is API-only.
On balance Codestral 2 edges ahead, winning 3 of 5 categories against GPT-4.1's 2. Codestral 2 is roughly 8.9× cheaper on output tokens ($0.90 vs $8.00 per 1M). GPT-4.1 accepts 1M tokens vs 256K, 3.9× the room for long documents and codebases.
Codestral 2 leads in 1 of 1 shared benchmarks; the biggest gap is on HumanEval (Python coding), where it scores 92.0 vs 90.6. They differ in modality coverage, Codestral 2 handles text while GPT-4.1 handles text, vision, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Codestral 2 ships open weights (Mistral Non-Production License); GPT-4.1 is API-only.
GPT-4.1 is the newer of the two, released 3 months after Codestral 2, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Codestral 2 is usually picked for code completion and coding llm workloads, while GPT-4.1 sees more deployments in long context and rag. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Codestral 2 | GPT-4.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Mistral | OpenAI |
| Released | Jan 2025 | Apr 2025 |
| Modalities | text | text, vision |
| Context window | 256K tokens | 1M tokens |
| Max output | , | 32.8K tokens |
| Input · 1M | $0.30 / 1M tokens | $2.00 / 1M tokens |
| Output · 1M | $0.90 / 1M tokens | $8.00 / 1M tokens |
| Knowledge cutoff | , | 2024-06 |
| Open weights | Yes (Mistral Non-Production License) | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
Pricing at scale
What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day$2.25 vs $18.00
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$22.50 vs $180
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$50.40 vs $348
Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $2.25 vs $18.00 per month, model A comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $22.50 vs $180 per month, model A comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $50.40 vs $348 per month, model A comes out ahead.
Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Codestral 2$0.075
- GPT-4.1$0.600
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
- MMLU,86.2
- HumanEval92.090.6
Codestral 2 fits when…
- Fast inline completion
- FIM support
- Self-hostable for IP-sensitive teams
- Cost-sensitive workloads, 8.9× cheaper than GPT-4.1 on output tokens.
- Self-hosting and on-prem requirements, open weights (Mistral Non-Production License).
GPT-4.1 fits when…
- 1M-token context window, strong for long-doc workloads
- Mature SDK and tooling integrations
- Reliable JSON-mode and function-calling
- Long-context tasks, handles 1M tokens vs 256K for Codestral 2.
- Multimodal needs covering vision.
Consider Mistral Large 2
Mistral's flagship API model, strong on code and reasoning, EU-friendly hosting.
Frequently asked
Is Codestral 2 or GPT-4.1 cheaper?
Codestral 2 is cheaper at $0.90 / 1M tokens per million output tokens, vs $8.00 / 1M tokens for GPT-4.1.Which has the larger context window?
GPT-4.1 accepts 1M tokens vs 256K for Codestral 2.Is Codestral 2 or GPT-4.1 better for coding?
Both Codestral 2 and GPT-4.1 are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.Are either of these models open source?
Codestral 2 ships open weights (Mistral Non-Production License). GPT-4.1 is API-only.When were Codestral 2 and GPT-4.1 released?
Codestral 2 was released by Mistral on 2025-01-14. GPT-4.1 was released by OpenAI on 2025-04-14.
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