CtrlAltDebrief

GPT-4o vs o4 Mini

API pricing, context window and capabilities for GPT-4o and o4 Mini, side by side. Prices are the cheapest listed serving route per 1M tokens, from LiteLLM and OpenRouter.

Verdict

computed from the published numbers

o4 Mini wins on price, on intelligence and on context window. Benchmark data is unavailable for one or both models.

Price
o4 Mini
Terminal-Bench
Not called
Intelligence
o4 Mini
Context window
o4 Mini

Key takeaways

who wins on what, from the published numbers

GPT-4o wins

  • More serving providers (6 vs 5)
  • Supports audio

o4 Mini wins

  • Cheaper input ($2.50 vs $1.00 /1M)
  • Cheaper output ($10.00 vs $4.00 /1M)
  • Larger context window (131K vs 200K)
  • Higher max output (16K vs 100K)
  • Has reasoning mode
  • Has web search
Cheaper overall
o4 Mini
$1.00 + $4.00 /1M
Larger context
o4 Mini
200K
More providers
GPT-4o
6 providers

Pricing & specs

cheapest listed route · per 1M tokens
On-demand listed rates, OpenRouter routed quotes and Vercel reseller quotes. Enterprise commitments can be materially lower.
GPT-4oo4 Mini
Input $/1M$2.50via OpenAI $1.00via Replicate best
Output $/1M$10.00via OpenAI $4.00via Replicate best
Context window131K 200K best
Max output16K 100K best
Serving providers6 best5
DateReleased May 13, 2024 Released Apr 16, 2025

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores, side by side
GPT-4oo4 Mini
Intelligence8.4 16.6 best
GPQA Diamond54% 78% best
Output speed150 t/s 151 t/s best
Latency (TTFT)0.79s best23.12s

Cost calculator

choose a serving route for each side
Input tokens / month
Output tokens / month
GPT-4o
via Gmi
$23
o4 Mini
via Replicate
$9.00

Capabilities

feature support, side by side
FeatureGPT-4oo4 Mini
Vision✓✓
Tool use✓✓
Reasoning—✓
Audio✓—
Prompt caching✓✓
Structured output✓✓
Web search—✓

Related comparisons

Compare o4 Mini with

GPT-4o-mini

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper, GPT-4o or o4 Mini?
o4 Mini is cheaper for input ($2.50 vs $1.00 per 1M tokens) from Replicate. o4 Mini is cheaper for output ($10.00 vs $4.00 per 1M tokens) from Replicate.
What is the context window difference between GPT-4o and o4 Mini?
GPT-4o has a 131K-token context window and o4 Mini has 200K tokens, so o4 Mini can take a larger prompt.
How do GPT-4o and o4 Mini compare on benchmarks?
On the tracked benchmarks, o4 Mini leads on intelligence.
Listed prices from LiteLLM, OpenRouter and Vercel · last checked Oct 14, 2026

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