o1-preview vs o4-mini
o4-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. o4-mini is 13.6x cheaper per token.
OpenAI · OpenAI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
o1-preview outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while o4-mini is better at 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, GPQA, SWE-Bench Verified). o4-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, o4-mini is roughly 13.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
o4-mini also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose o1-preview
- you want predictable pricing at $15.00/M input and $60.00/M output
Choose o4-mini
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 13.6x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
o1-preview outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while o4-mini is better at 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, GPQA, SWE-Bench Verified).
o4-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, o1-preview ($15.00/1M tokens) is 13.6x more expensive than o4-mini ($1.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, o1-preview ($60.00/1M tokens) is 13.6x more expensive than o4-mini ($4.40/1M tokens).
In conclusion, o1-preview is more expensive than o4-mini.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
o4-mini accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to o1-preview's 128,000 tokens. o4-mini can generate longer responses up to 100,000 tokens, while o1-preview is limited to 32,768 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
o4-mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas o1-preview does not.
o4-mini can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
o1-preview
o4-mini
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.
Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.
Proprietary
Closed source
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
o1-preview was released on 2024-09-12, while o4-mini was released on 2025-04-16.
o4-mini is 7 months newer than o1-preview.
Sep 12, 2024
1.9 years ago
Apr 16, 2025
1.4 years ago
7mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
o4-mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-05-31, while o1-preview's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm o4-mini's training data extends to 2024-05-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without o1-preview's cutoff date.
—
May 2024
Provider Availability
o1-preview is available from OpenAI, Azure. o4-mini is available from OpenAI.
o1-preview
o4-mini
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against o1-preview and o4-mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about o1-preview vs o4-mini.