GPT-4o mini vs Mistral Small
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
Updated
GPT-4o mini specs · Mistral Small specs- PriceTie
Both land near $0.60 / 1M output tokens, call it a wash on cost.
- 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 Mistral Small.
- OpennessMistral Small
Mistral Small ships open weights (Apache-2.0); GPT-4o mini is API-only.
It's a genuine coin-flip between GPT-4o mini and Mistral Small: 1 category wins each, with the rest tied. Both land near $0.60 / 1M output tokens, call it a wash on cost. 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, GPT-4o mini handles text, vision while Mistral Small handles text, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Mistral Small ships open weights (Apache-2.0); GPT-4o mini is API-only.
Mistral Small is the newer of the two, released 2 months after GPT-4o mini, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. GPT-4o mini is usually picked for customer support and summarization workloads, while Mistral Small sees more deployments in cheapest llm and fastest llm. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | GPT-4o mini | Mistral Small |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI | Mistral |
| Released | Jul 2024 | Sep 2024 |
| Modalities | text, vision | text |
| Context window | 128K tokens | 128K tokens |
| Max output | , | , |
| Input · 1M | $0.15 / 1M tokens | $0.20 / 1M tokens |
| Output · 1M | $0.60 / 1M tokens | $0.60 / 1M tokens |
| Knowledge cutoff | , | , |
| Open weights | No | Yes (Apache-2.0) |
| 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$1.35 vs $1.50
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$13.50 vs $15.00
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$26.10 vs $33.60
Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $1.35 vs $1.50 per month, model A comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $13.50 vs $15.00 per month, model A comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $26.10 vs $33.60 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.
- GPT-4o mini$0.045
- Mistral Small$0.050
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
- MMLU82.0
GPT-4o mini fits when…
- Cheap
- Fast
- Mature
- Multimodal needs covering vision.
Mistral Small fits when…
- Apache-2.0 open-weight
- Fast and cheap
- Self-hosting and on-prem requirements, open weights (Apache-2.0).
Consider GPT-5.5
OpenAI's mid-cycle GPT-5 refresh, improved reasoning, tool use, and multimodal grounding over the 2025 launch.
Frequently asked
Is GPT-4o mini or Mistral Small cheaper?
Both GPT-4o mini and Mistral Small are priced equivalently at $0.60 / 1M tokens per million output tokens.Which has the larger context window?
Both GPT-4o mini and Mistral Small ship a 128K-token context window.Is GPT-4o mini or Mistral Small better for coding?
Both GPT-4o mini and Mistral Small 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?
Mistral Small ships open weights (Apache-2.0). GPT-4o mini is API-only.When were GPT-4o mini and Mistral Small released?
GPT-4o mini was released by OpenAI on 2024-07-18. Mistral Small was released by Mistral on 2024-09-18.
The week's AI launches, in your inbox.
One short email every Friday, new models, leaks, and quietly-shipped APIs you missed.