Is GPT-4o mini or o4 cheaper?

Per-token pricing isn't published for at least one of these models, check each model's spec page for current rates.

Which has the larger context window?

o4 accepts 200K tokens vs 128K for GPT-4o mini.

Is GPT-4o mini or o4 better for coding?

Both GPT-4o mini and o4 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?

Neither model ships open weights, both are accessible only via their respective providers' APIs.

When were GPT-4o mini and o4 released?

GPT-4o mini was released by OpenAI on 2024-07-18. o4 was released by OpenAI on 2025-12-15.

Is GPT-4o mini or o4 cheaper?

Per-token pricing isn't published for at least one of these models, check each model's spec page for current rates.

Which has the larger context window?

o4 accepts 200K tokens vs 128K for GPT-4o mini.

Is GPT-4o mini or o4 better for coding?

Both GPT-4o mini and o4 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?

Neither model ships open weights, both are accessible only via their respective providers' APIs.

When were GPT-4o mini and o4 released?

GPT-4o mini was released by OpenAI on 2024-07-18. o4 was released by OpenAI on 2025-12-15.

GPT-4o mini vs o4

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

UpdatedApr 30, 2026

GPT-4o mini specs · o4 specs

Verdict by category

PriceGPT-4o mini
GPT-4o mini publishes pricing ($0.60 / 1M output tokens) while o4 does not.
Context windowo4
o4 accepts 200K tokens vs 128K, 1.6× the room for long documents and codebases.
BenchmarksTie
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.
ModalitiesTie
Both handle text, vision.
OpennessTie
Both are closed-weight, API-only.

It's a genuine coin-flip between GPT-4o mini and o4: 1 category wins each, with the rest tied. GPT-4o mini publishes pricing ($0.60 / 1M output tokens) while o4 does not. o4 accepts 200K tokens vs 128K, 1.6× the room for long documents and codebases.

No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. Both target the same set of modalities (text, vision), so the deciding factors are price, context, and raw quality. Both are closed-weight, API-only.

o4 is the newer of the two, released 17 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 o4 sees more deployments in reasoning and math. 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	o4
Provider	OpenAI	OpenAI
Released	Jul 2024	Dec 2025
Modalities	text, vision	text, vision
Context window	128K tokens	200K tokens
Max output	,	,
Input · 1M	$0.15 / 1M tokens	Pricing not published
Output · 1M	$0.60 / 1M tokens	Pricing not published
Knowledge cutoff	,	,
Open weights	No	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$1.35 vs ,
Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$13.50 vs ,
RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$26.10 vs ,

Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates).

Price calculator

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

Input tokens / dayOutput tokens / dayHorizon

GPT-4o mini$0.045
o4Pricing unavailable

Benchmarks compared

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

GPT-4o minio4

MMLU82.0

Pick GPT-4o mini if

GPT-4o mini fits when…

Cheap
Fast
Mature

Pick o4 if

o4 fits when…

Exceptional performance on hard math and reasoning benchmarks
Good at multi-step planning and verification
Strong scientific reasoning
Long-context tasks, handles 200K tokens vs 128K for GPT-4o mini.

Don't want either?

Consider GPT-5.5

OpenAI's mid-cycle GPT-5 refresh, improved reasoning, tool use, and multimodal grounding over the 2025 launch.

See GPT-5.5 specs GPT-4o mini vs GPT-5.5 o4 vs GPT-5.5

Frequently asked

Is GPT-4o mini or o4 cheaper?
Per-token pricing isn't published for at least one of these models, check each model's spec page for current rates.
Which has the larger context window?
o4 accepts 200K tokens vs 128K for GPT-4o mini.
Is GPT-4o mini or o4 better for coding?
Both GPT-4o mini and o4 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?
Neither model ships open weights, both are accessible only via their respective providers' APIs.
When were GPT-4o mini and o4 released?
GPT-4o mini was released by OpenAI on 2024-07-18. o4 was released by OpenAI on 2025-12-15.

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