The go-to budget workhorse for high-volume OpenAI API users who need GPT-4.1 quality at GPT-3.5 prices.
High-volume production workloads that need reliable GPT-4-class instruction following without flagship pricing.
Extremely competitive pricing at $0.40/$1.60 per 1M tokens — cheaper than GPT-4o Mini at launch
1M token context window enables full codebase or document analysis at budget rates
Strong instruction-following inherited from the GPT-4.1 family, outperforming GPT-4o Mini on agentic tasks
Fast inference speed suitable for real-time applications and chatbots
Noticeably weaker than GPT-4.1 and GPT-4o on complex multi-step reasoning and nuanced analysis
See what OpenAI: GPT-4.1 Mini actually costs at your usage level
Based on OpenAI: GPT-4.1 Mini API pricing: $0.39999999999999997/1M input · $1.5999999999999999/1M output. Real costs vary by provider discounts and caching. Check the provider for exact current rates.
Price History
→0% since May 9
4 data points · tracked daily since May 9, 2026
High-volume production workloads that need reliable GPT-4-class instruction following without flagship pricing.. Start free — no card required.
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Similar models worth checking before you commit.
GPT-4.1 Nano is OpenAI's smallest and most cost-efficient model in the GPT-4.1 family, designed for high-throughput, latency-sensitive tasks at near-commodity pricing. It offers a 1M token context window at just $0.10/1M input tokens, making it one of the cheapest large-context models available.
Pricing moves, ranking shifts, and capability updates.
OpenAI: GPT-4.1 Mini (OpenAI) is now indexed. It supersedes GPT-4o. The go-to budget workhorse for high-volume OpenAI API users who need GPT-4.1 quality at GPT-3.5 prices.
View modelOpenAI: GPT-4.1 Mini is best for high-volume production workloads that need reliable gpt-4-class instruction following without flagship pricing.. It is a strong fit when that workflow matters more than the tradeoffs around budget pricing and very fast speed.
Avoid if your task requires deep multi-step reasoning, complex mathematical problem-solving, or high-stakes analysis where GPT-4.1 or Claude Sonnet 4.6's extra capability justifies the higher cost.
Meta: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is the lower-cost option to compare first when you want a similar workflow fit with less token spend.
OpenAI: GPT-4.1 Nano is the better pick when response time matters more than maximum depth or premium quality.
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Avoid if your task requires deep multi-step reasoning, complex mathematical problem-solving, or high-stakes analysis where GPT-4.1 or Claude Sonnet 4.6's extra capability justifies the higher cost.
No native image generation capability; multimodal input is limited compared to flagship models
Can struggle with highly ambiguous or open-ended creative tasks where GPT-4.1 or Claude Sonnet 4.6 shine
GPT-5 Mini is OpenAI's budget-tier distillation of GPT-5, designed for high-volume, cost-sensitive tasks that don't require full flagship reasoning depth. It supersedes GPT-4o with improved instruction following and a massively expanded 400K context window at a fraction of the cost.
GPT-5 Nano is OpenAI's smallest and fastest model in the GPT-5 family, optimized for high-throughput, low-latency tasks at near-minimal cost. It supersedes GPT-4o as the go-to option for lightweight inference at scale.
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