Model Comparison

o1-preview vs o4-miniWhich is better in 2026?

o4-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. o4-mini is 13.6x cheaper per token.

Verdict: o1-preview vs o4-mini — which is better?

o1-preview (by OpenAI) and o4-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.

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.

Choose o1-preview if…

  • you want predictable pricing at $15.00/M input and $60.00/M output

Choose o4-mini if…

  • 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
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

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.

Thu Jun 11 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

o4-mini costs less

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Thu Jun 11 2026 • llm-stats.com
OpenAI
o1-preview
Input tokens$15.00
Output tokens$60.00
Best providerOpenAI
OpenAI
o4-mini
Input tokens$1.10
Output tokens$4.40
Best providerOpenAI
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

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.

OpenAI
o1-preview
Input128,000 tokens
Output32,768 tokens
OpenAI
o4-mini
Input200,000 tokens
Output100,000 tokens
Thu Jun 11 2026 • llm-stats.com

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

Text
Images
Audio
Video

o4-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.

o1-preview

Proprietary

Closed source

o4-mini

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.

o1-preview

Sep 12, 2024

1.7 years ago

o4-mini

Apr 16, 2025

1.2 years ago

7mo newer

Knowledge 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.

o1-preview

—

o4-mini

May 2024

Provider Availability

o1-preview is available from OpenAI, Azure. o4-mini is available from OpenAI.

o1-preview

openai logo
OpenAI
Input Price:Input: $15.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $60.00/1M
azure logo
Azure
Input Price:Input: $16.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $66.00/1M

o4-mini

openai logo
OpenAI
Input Price:Input: $1.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $4.40/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

OpenAI

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

OpenAI
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Higher AIME 2024 score (93.4% vs 42.0%)
Higher GPQA score (81.4% vs 73.3%)
Higher SWE-Bench Verified score (68.1% vs 41.3%)
OpenAIo1-preview
OpenAIo4-mini
Compare in Playground

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
OpenAI
o1-preview
OpenAI
o4-mini

FAQ

Common questions about o1-preview vs o4-mini.

Which is better, o1-preview or o4-mini?

o4-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. o1-preview is made by OpenAI and o4-mini is made by OpenAI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does o1-preview compare to o4-mini in benchmarks?

o1-preview scores MGSM: 90.8%, MMLU: 90.8%, MATH: 85.5%, GPQA: 73.3%, LiveBench: 52.3%. o4-mini scores AIME 2024: 93.4%, AIME 2025: 92.7%, MathVista: 84.3%, MMMU: 81.6%, GPQA: 81.4%.

Is o1-preview cheaper than o4-mini?

o4-mini is 13.6x cheaper for input tokens. o1-preview costs $15.00/M input and $60.00/M output via openai. o4-mini costs $1.10/M input and $4.40/M output via openai.

What are the context window sizes for o1-preview and o4-mini?

o1-preview supports 128K tokens and o4-mini supports 200K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between o1-preview and o4-mini?

Key differences include context window (128K vs 200K), input pricing ($15.00 vs $1.10/M), multimodal support (no vs yes). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

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