Last verified 2025-09-22 (left) · 2025-09-22 (right)

GPT-4.1 vs GPT-5 Chat — Pricing & Capability Comparison

GPT-4.1 charges $2.00 per million input tokens and $8.00 per million output tokens. GPT-5 Chat comes in at $1.25 / $10.00. Context windows span 128K vs 200K tokens respectively.

TL;DR — Quick Comparison

✓GPT-4.1 is cheaper overall: $10.00 per 1M tokens (in+out) vs $11.25 for GPT-5 Chat — saves $1.25 per 1M tokens
✓Input pricing: GPT-4.1 $2.00/1M vs GPT-5 Chat $1.25/1M
✓Output pricing: GPT-4.1 $8.00/1M vs GPT-5 Chat $10.00/1M
✓Context window: GPT-5 Chat offers more (200K vs 128K)
✓Use our calculator below to estimate costs for your specific usage pattern

Input price (per 1M)

GPT-4.1

$2.00

GPT-5 Chat

$1.25

GPT-5 Chat leads here

Output price (per 1M)

GPT-4.1

$8.00

GPT-5 Chat

$10.00

GPT-4.1 leads here

Context window

GPT-4.1

128,000 tokens

GPT-5 Chat

200,000 tokens

GPT-5 Chat leads here

Cached input

GPT-4.1

Not published

GPT-5 Chat

$0.125

GPT-5 Chat leads here

Which one should you choose?

Skip the spreadsheet if you just need the practical takeaway. Use these rules when deciding between GPT-4.1 and GPT-5 Chat.

Choose GPT-5 Chat if input tokens dominate your bill

GPT-5 Chat has the lower input rate, which usually matters most for chat, RAG, classification, and long-prompt workflows where prompt volume stays much larger than generated output.

Choose GPT-4.1 if you generate long answers

GPT-4.1 is cheaper on output tokens, so it tends to win for report generation, coding assistance, reasoning traces, and any workflow where completions are long.

Choose GPT-5 Chat if context size is the blocker

GPT-5 Chat offers the larger published context window, which is more important than small pricing differences when you need to fit large files, long chats, or multi-document prompts into one request.

Cost comparison for 10K-token workloads

Side-by-side pricing for identical workloads (10,000 total tokens per request) across different distributions.

Scenario	GPT-4.1	GPT-5 Chat	GPT-5 Chat cached
Balanced conversation 50% input · 50% output	$0.0500	$0.0563	$0.0506
Input-heavy workflow 80% input · 20% output	$0.0320	$0.0300	$0.0210
Generation heavy 30% input · 70% output	$0.0620	$0.0738	$0.0704
Cached system prompt 90% cached input · 10% fresh output	$0.0260	$0.0212	$0.0111

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper: GPT-4.1 or GPT-5 Chat?

GPT-5 Chat is cheaper for input tokens at $1.25 per 1M tokens compared to $2.00. For output, GPT-4.1 costs $8.00 per 1M tokens versus $10.00 for GPT-5 Chat.

What is the cost per 1M tokens for GPT-4.1?

GPT-4.1 pricing: $2.00 per 1M input tokens and $8.00 per 1M output tokens. Context window: 128,000 tokens.

What is the cost per 1M tokens for GPT-5 Chat?

GPT-5 Chat pricing: $1.25 per 1M input tokens and $10.00 per 1M output tokens. Context window: 200,000 tokens.

How much does it cost per 1K tokens?

Per 1K tokens: GPT-4.1 costs $0.0020 input / $0.0080 output. GPT-5 Chat costs $0.0013 input / $0.0100 output. This is useful for calculating small-scale usage costs.

Which model supports a larger context window?

GPT-5 Chat offers 200,000 tokens (200K) versus 128K for GPT-4.1.

What is the estimated monthly cost for typical usage?

For a typical workload of 10M input + 2M output tokens per month: GPT-4.1 would cost approximately $36.00, while GPT-5 Chat would cost $32.50. GPT-5 Chat is more economical for this usage pattern.

Do these models support prompt caching?

GPT-4.1 does not publish cached pricing. GPT-5 Chat supports caching at $0.125 per 1M tokens, saving up to 90%.

Which model is best for my use case?

Choose GPT-5 Chat for cost-sensitive applications with high input volume. Choose GPT-5 Chat if you need 200K context for long documents or conversations. Consider prompt caching if you have repeated context. Use our token calculator to model your specific usage pattern.