GPT-4.1 Mini vs Grok 4

Across our 12-test suite the models produce largely similar results: Grok 4 wins 3 tests (strategic analysis, faithfulness, classification), GPT-4.1 Mini wins 1 (agentic planning), and the remaining 8 tests tie. Specifics from our testing: - Strategic analysis: Grok 4 scores 5 vs GPT-4.1 Mini 4; Grok 4 is tied for 1st with 25 others on this test, while GPT-4.1 Mini ranks 27 of 54. This implies Grok 4 is stronger at nuanced tradeoff reasoning for tasks like multi-criteria decisioning. - Faithfulness: Grok 4 scores 5 vs GPT-4.1 Mini 4; Grok 4 is tied for 1st of 55 models, GPT-4.1 Mini ranks 34 of 55 — important when avoiding hallucinations and sticking to source material. - Classification: Grok 4 scores 4 vs GPT-4.1 Mini 3; Grok 4 is tied for 1st of 53 models, GPT-4.1 Mini ranks 31 of 53 — expect better routing and labeling from Grok 4. - Agentic planning: GPT-4.1 Mini scores 4 vs Grok 4's 3; GPT-4.1 Mini ranks 16 of 54 vs Grok 4 at 42 of 54, so GPT-4.1 Mini is the better choice for goal decomposition, multi-step orchestration, and recovery strategies. - Ties: structured output (4), constrained rewriting (4), creative problem solving (3), tool calling (4), long context (5), safety calibration (2), persona consistency (5), multilingual (5). For example, both models score 4 on tool calling and rank 18 of 54, so function selection and sequencing are comparable. Notable external data: GPT-4.1 Mini scores 87.3% on MATH Level 5 and 44.7% on AIME 2025 (Epoch AI) — supplementary math signals present for GPT-4.1 Mini only in the payload. Finally, GPT-4.1 Mini provides a much larger raw context window (1,047,576 tokens vs Grok 4's 256,000), which matters for retrieval and very long-document tasks even though both models tied on our long context score.

Costs in the payload are per mTok (1,000 tokens). GPT-4.1 Mini: $0.40 input / $1.60 output per mTok. Grok 4: $3.00 input / $15.00 output per mTok. Using a 50/50 input/output token split as a practical example, GPT-4.1 Mini costs $1,000 per 1M tokens (500k input = $200; 500k output = $800). Grok 4 costs $9,000 per 1M tokens (500k input = $1,500; 500k output = $7,500). At 10M tokens/month the totals are $10,000 (GPT-4.1 Mini) vs $90,000 (Grok 4); at 100M tokens/month $100,000 vs $900,000. The cost gap matters most for high-volume apps, long-context logging, or consumer-facing products with tight margins. If you run low-volume, high-stakes reasoning or classification, the higher Grok 4 spend may be justified; for scale or large context windows, GPT-4.1 Mini is the clear cost-efficiency winner.

Choose GPT-4.1 Mini if you need massive context (1,047,576 tokens), are cost-sensitive or operating at scale, or want better agentic planning (GPT-4.1 Mini 4 vs Grok 4's 3 in our tests). Choose Grok 4 if you prioritize strategic analysis, faithfulness, or top-tier classification (Grok 4 wins those 3 tests in our suite) and can absorb the much higher cost ($3/$15 vs $0.40/$1.60 per mTok). If you need a mix of both: use GPT-4.1 Mini for long-context or high-volume workloads and reserve Grok 4 for critical reasoning/classification endpoints where fidelity matters more than price.