Model Comparison

Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs GPT-4.1 miniWhich is better in 2026?

Claude 3.5 Sonnet shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. GPT-4.1 mini is 8.6x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs GPT-4.1 mini — which is better?

Claude 3.5 Sonnet (by Anthropic) and GPT-4.1 mini (by OpenAI) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperforms in 5 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU, SWE-Bench Verified, TAU-bench Airline, TAU-bench Retail), while GPT-4.1 mini is better at 2 benchmarks (MathVista, MMMU). Claude 3.5 Sonnet shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

On price, GPT-4.1 mini is roughly 8.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

GPT-4.1 mini also accepts a larger context window (1,047,576 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Claude 3.5 Sonnet if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 7 shared benchmarks

Choose GPT-4.1 mini if…

  • cost matters — it's about 8.6x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 1,047,576 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

7 benchmarks

Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperforms in 5 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU, SWE-Bench Verified, TAU-bench Airline, TAU-bench Retail), while GPT-4.1 mini is better at 2 benchmarks (MathVista, MMMU).

Claude 3.5 Sonnet shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Tue Aug 04 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

GPT-4.1 mini costs less

For input processing, Claude 3.5 Sonnet ($3.00/1M tokens) is 7.5x more expensive than GPT-4.1 mini ($0.40/1M tokens).

For output processing, Claude 3.5 Sonnet ($15.00/1M tokens) is 9.4x more expensive than GPT-4.1 mini ($1.60/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Claude 3.5 Sonnet is more expensive than GPT-4.1 mini.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Aug 04 2026 • llm-stats.com
Anthropic
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Input tokens$3.00
Output tokens$15.00
Best providerAnthropic
OpenAI
GPT-4.1 mini
Input tokens$0.40
Output tokens$1.60
Best providerOpenAI
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

GPT-4.1 mini accepts 1,047,576 input tokens compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 200,000 tokens. Claude 3.5 Sonnet can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while GPT-4.1 mini is limited to 32,768 tokens.

Anthropic
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Input200,000 tokens
Output200,000 tokens
OpenAI
GPT-4.1 mini
Input1,047,576 tokens
Output32,768 tokens
Tue Aug 04 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Claude 3.5 Sonnet and GPT-4.1 mini support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Text
Images
Audio
Video

GPT-4.1 mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.

Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Proprietary

Closed source

GPT-4.1 mini

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude 3.5 Sonnet was released on 2024-10-22, while GPT-4.1 mini was released on 2025-04-14.

GPT-4.1 mini is 6 months newer than Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Oct 22, 2024

1.8 years ago

GPT-4.1 mini

Apr 14, 2025

1.3 years ago

5mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-4.1 mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-05-31, while Claude 3.5 Sonnet's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm GPT-4.1 mini's training data extends to 2024-05-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Claude 3.5 Sonnet's cutoff date.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

—

GPT-4.1 mini

May 2024

Provider Availability

Claude 3.5 Sonnet is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. GPT-4.1 mini is available from OpenAI.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M

GPT-4.1 mini

openai logo
OpenAI
Input Price:Input: $0.40/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.60/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Anthropic
Higher GPQA score (67.2% vs 65.0%)
Higher MMLU score (90.4% vs 87.5%)
Higher SWE-Bench Verified score (49.0% vs 23.6%)
Higher TAU-bench Airline score (46.0% vs 36.0%)
Higher TAU-bench Retail score (69.2% vs 55.8%)
OpenAI
Larger context window (1,047,576 tokens)
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Higher MathVista score (73.1% vs 67.7%)
Higher MMMU score (72.7% vs 68.3%)
AnthropicClaude 3.5 Sonnet
OpenAIGPT-4.1 mini
Compare in Playground

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Claude 3.5 Sonnet and GPT-4.1 mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet
✓ Preferred
GPT-4.1 mini
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
OpenAI
GPT-4.1 mini

FAQ

Common questions about Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs GPT-4.1 mini.

Which is better, Claude 3.5 Sonnet or GPT-4.1 mini?

Claude 3.5 Sonnet shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Claude 3.5 Sonnet is made by Anthropic and GPT-4.1 mini is made by OpenAI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Claude 3.5 Sonnet compare to GPT-4.1 mini in benchmarks?

Claude 3.5 Sonnet scores GSM8k: 96.4%, DocVQA: 95.2%, AI2D: 94.7%, HumanEval: 93.7%, BIG-Bench Hard: 93.1%. GPT-4.1 mini scores CharXiv-D: 88.4%, MMLU: 87.5%, IFEval: 84.1%, MMMLU: 78.5%, MathVista: 73.1%.

Is Claude 3.5 Sonnet cheaper than GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-4.1 mini is 7.5x cheaper for input tokens. Claude 3.5 Sonnet costs $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output via anthropic. GPT-4.1 mini costs $0.40/M input and $1.60/M output via openai.

What are the context window sizes for Claude 3.5 Sonnet and GPT-4.1 mini?

Claude 3.5 Sonnet supports 200K tokens and GPT-4.1 mini supports 1.0M tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Claude 3.5 Sonnet and GPT-4.1 mini?

Key differences include context window (200K vs 1.0M), input pricing ($3.00 vs $0.40/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Claude 3.5 Sonnet and GPT-4.1 mini?

Claude 3.5 Sonnet is developed by Anthropic and GPT-4.1 mini is developed by OpenAI.

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