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Command R vs GPT-4o mini

A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.

Updated

Command R specs · GPT-4o mini specs
Verdict by category
  • PriceGPT-4o mini

    GPT-4o mini is roughly 2.5× cheaper on output tokens ($0.60 vs $1.50 per 1M).

  • Context windowTie

    Both ship a 128K-token context window.

  • BenchmarksTie

    No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.

  • ModalitiesGPT-4o mini

    GPT-4o mini supports 2 modalities (text, vision) vs 1 for Command R.

  • OpennessCommand R

    Command R ships open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0); GPT-4o mini is API-only.

On balance GPT-4o mini edges ahead, winning 2 of 5 categories against Command R's 1. GPT-4o mini is roughly 2.5× cheaper on output tokens ($0.60 vs $1.50 per 1M). Both ship a 128K-token context window.

No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, Command R handles text while GPT-4o mini handles text, vision, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Command R ships open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0); GPT-4o mini is API-only.

GPT-4o mini is the newer of the two, released 4 months after Command R, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Command R is usually picked for rag and customer support workloads, while GPT-4o mini sees more deployments in customer support and summarization. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.

Side-by-side specs

SpecCommand RGPT-4o mini
ProviderCohereOpenAI
ReleasedMar 2024Jul 2024
Modalitiestexttext, vision
Context window128K tokens128K tokens
Max output,,
Input · 1M$0.50 / 1M tokens$0.15 / 1M tokens
Output · 1M$1.50 / 1M tokens$0.60 / 1M tokens
Knowledge cutoff,,
Open weightsYes (CC-BY-NC 4.0)No
API availableYesYes

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$3.75 vs $1.35
  • Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$37.50 vs $13.50
  • RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$84.00 vs $26.10

Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $3.75 vs $1.35 per month, model B comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $37.50 vs $13.50 per month, model B comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $84.00 vs $26.10 per month, model B comes out ahead.

Price calculator

Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • Command R$0.125
  • GPT-4o mini$0.045

Benchmarks compared

Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.

Command RGPT-4o mini
  • MMLU,82.0
Pick Command R if

Command R fits when…

  • Cheap RAG
  • Reliable tool-use
  • Self-hosting and on-prem requirements, open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0).
Pick GPT-4o mini if

GPT-4o mini fits when…

  • Cheap
  • Fast
  • Mature
  • Cost-sensitive workloads, 2.5× cheaper than Command R on output tokens.
  • Multimodal needs covering vision.
Don't want either?

Consider Command R+ (08-2024)

Cohere's flagship optimized for RAG and tool use in enterprise settings.

See Command R+ (08-2024) specsCommand R vs Command R+ (08-2024)GPT-4o mini vs Command R+ (08-2024)

Frequently asked

  • Is Command R or GPT-4o mini cheaper?
    GPT-4o mini is cheaper at $0.60 / 1M tokens per million output tokens, vs $1.50 / 1M tokens for Command R.
  • Which has the larger context window?
    Both Command R and GPT-4o mini ship a 128K-token context window.
  • Is Command R or GPT-4o mini better for coding?
    Both Command R and GPT-4o mini 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?
    Command R ships open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0). GPT-4o mini is API-only.
  • When were Command R and GPT-4o mini released?
    Command R was released by Cohere on 2024-03-11. GPT-4o mini was released by OpenAI on 2024-07-18.
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