Last verified 2025-09-22 (left) · 2025-09-22 (right)
GPT-4o vs o4-mini — Pricing & Capability Comparison
GPT-4o charges $2.50 per million input tokens and $10.00 per million output tokens. o4-mini comes in at $1.10 / $4.40. Context windows span 128K vs 200K tokens respectively.
TL;DR — Quick Comparison
- ✓o4-mini is cheaper overall: $5.50 per 1M tokens (in+out) vs $12.50 for GPT-4o — saves $7.00 per 1M tokens
- ✓Input pricing: GPT-4o $2.50/1M vs o4-mini $1.10/1M
- ✓Output pricing: GPT-4o $10.00/1M vs o4-mini $4.40/1M
- ✓Context window: o4-mini offers more (200K vs 128K)
- ✓Use our calculator below to estimate costs for your specific usage pattern
Input price (per 1M)
GPT-4o
$2.50
o4-mini
$1.10
o4-mini leads here
Output price (per 1M)
GPT-4o
$10.00
o4-mini
$4.40
o4-mini leads here
Context window
GPT-4o
128,000 tokens
o4-mini
200,000 tokens
o4-mini leads here
Cached input
GPT-4o
$1.250
o4-mini
Not published
GPT-4o leads here
Cost comparison for 10K-token workloads
Side-by-side pricing for identical workloads (10,000 total tokens per request) across different distributions.
| Scenario | GPT-4o | o4-mini | GPT-4o cached |
|---|---|---|---|
Balanced conversation 50% input · 50% output | $0.0625 | $0.0275 | $0.0563 |
Input-heavy workflow 80% input · 20% output | $0.0400 | $0.0176 | $0.0300 |
Generation heavy 30% input · 70% output | $0.0775 | $0.0341 | $0.0738 |
Cached system prompt 90% cached input · 10% fresh output | $0.0325 | $0.0143 | $0.0212 |
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper: GPT-4o or o4-mini?
o4-mini is cheaper for input tokens at $1.10 per 1M tokens compared to $2.50. For output, o4-mini costs $4.40 per 1M tokens versus $10.00 for GPT-4o.
What is the cost per 1M tokens for GPT-4o?
GPT-4o pricing: $2.50 per 1M input tokens and $10.00 per 1M output tokens. Context window: 128,000 tokens.
What is the cost per 1M tokens for o4-mini?
o4-mini pricing: $1.10 per 1M input tokens and $4.40 per 1M output tokens. Context window: 200,000 tokens.
How much does it cost per 1K tokens?
Per 1K tokens: GPT-4o costs $0.0025 input / $0.0100 output. o4-mini costs $0.0011 input / $0.0044 output. This is useful for calculating small-scale usage costs.
Which model supports a larger context window?
o4-mini offers 200,000 tokens (200K) versus 128K for GPT-4o.
What is the estimated monthly cost for typical usage?
For a typical workload of 10M input + 2M output tokens per month: GPT-4o would cost approximately $45.00, while o4-mini would cost $19.80. o4-mini is more economical for this usage pattern.
Do these models support prompt caching?
GPT-4o supports prompt caching at $1.250 per 1M cached tokens, reducing costs for repeated context by up to 50%. o4-mini does not publish cached pricing.
Which model is best for my use case?
Choose o4-mini for cost-sensitive applications with high input volume. Choose o4-mini 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.