Model Comparison
GPT-5.1 Thinking vs Magistral MediumWhich is better in 2026?
GPT-5.1 Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Verdict: GPT-5.1 Thinking vs Magistral Medium — which is better?
GPT-5.1 Thinking (by OpenAI) and Magistral Medium (by Mistral AI) 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.
GPT-5.1 Thinking outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA), while Magistral Medium is better at 0 benchmarks. GPT-5.1 Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Choose GPT-5.1 Thinking if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2025
Choose Magistral Medium if…
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
GPT-5.1 Thinking outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA), while Magistral Medium is better at 0 benchmarks.
GPT-5.1 Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only GPT-5.1 Thinking specifies input context (400,000 tokens). Only GPT-5.1 Thinking specifies output context (128,000 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both GPT-5.1 Thinking and Magistral Medium support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
GPT-5.1 Thinking
Magistral Medium
License
Usage and distribution terms
GPT-5.1 Thinking is licensed under a proprietary license, while Magistral Medium uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
GPT-5.1 Thinking was released on 2025-11-12, while Magistral Medium was released on 2025-06-10.
GPT-5.1 Thinking is 5 months newer than Magistral Medium.
Nov 12, 2025
6 months ago
5mo newerJun 10, 2025
12 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Magistral Medium has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-06-01, while GPT-5.1 Thinking's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Magistral Medium's training data extends to 2025-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without GPT-5.1 Thinking's cutoff date.
—
Jun 2025
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Magistral Medium
View detailsMistral AI
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about GPT-5.1 Thinking vs Magistral Medium.