Pick GPT-4.1 Mini for very cheap high-volume text work at $0.40 in / $1.60 out per million tokens or instruction following above its weight class — 84.1% on ifeval, beating gpt-4o. Pick Grok 4.3 for video understanding from native video input or generating pdf, pptx, and xlsx files directly. On a tight budget at scale, GPT-4.1 Mini is the value pick.
GPT-4.1 Mini (OpenAI) and Grok 4.3 (xAI) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. GPT-4.1 Mini is a cheap, fast 1M-context workhorse with strong instruction following but weak coding — already retired from ChatGPT. Grok 4.3 is the current xAI flagship: 1M context, native video input, file generation, and live X data, ahead of the still-unreleased Grok 5. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences
Price: GPT-4.1 Mini is about 3.1× cheaper on input ($0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens vs $1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
Context window: 1M vs 1M — within a few percent of each other, so treat this as a tie and test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
Recency: Grok 4.3 is the newer model by about 13 months (released April 30, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Specifications
Spec
GPT-4.1 Mini
Grok 4.3
Provider
OpenAI (US)
xAI (US)
Released
April 14, 2025
April 30, 2026
Context window
1M (~1,571 pages)
1M (~1,500 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens
$1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image, code
text, image, video, code
SWE-Bench Verified
23.6%
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Very cheap high-volume text work at $0.40 in / $1.60 out per million tokens: GPT-4.1 Mini — At $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens it undercuts Grok 4.3 ($1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
Instruction following above its weight class — 84.1% on IFEval, beating GPT-4o: GPT-4.1 Mini — Grok 4.3 is comparatively weak here — higher context pricing on requests above 200K tokens
Multi-turn coherence for its tier — 35.8% on MultiChallenge, roughly 1.8x GPT-4o mini: GPT-4.1 Mini — A cheap, fast 1M-context workhorse with strong instruction following but weak coding — already retired from ChatGPT — and it runs cheaper at $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens.
Video understanding from native video input: Grok 4.3 — The current xAI flagship: 1M context, native video input, file generation, and live X data, ahead of the still-unreleased Grok 5 — and it is the newer of the two.
Generating PDF, PPTX, and XLSX files directly: Grok 4.3 — Grok 4.3 lists generating PDF, PPTX, and XLSX files directly among its strengths; GPT-4.1 Mini does not.
Real-time questions using live X data: Grok 4.3 — Grok 4.3 lists real-time questions using live X data among its strengths; GPT-4.1 Mini does not.
Lowest cost at scale: GPT-4.1 Mini — At $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: GPT-4.1 Mini — At $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens it undercuts Grok 4.3, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases: GPT-4.1 Mini — Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is very cheap high-volume text work at $0.40 in / $1.60 out per million tokens: GPT-4.1 Mini — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is video understanding from native video input: Grok 4.3 — That is its strongest area.
GPT-4.1 Mini: where it fits
A cheap, fast 1M-context workhorse with strong instruction following but weak coding — already retired from ChatGPT. Released April 14, 2025 by OpenAI, it is built for very cheap high-volume text work at $0.40 in / $1.60 out per million tokens, instruction following above its weight class — 84.1% on IFEval, beating GPT-4o, multi-turn coherence for its tier — 35.8% on MultiChallenge, roughly 1.8x GPT-4o mini, and a full 1M context at flat pricing, with no long-context premium.
Its trade-offs are real: weak at agentic coding — its 23.6% on SWE-Bench Verified sits below GPT-4o's 33.2%, retired from ChatGPT in February 2026, and OpenAI's own docs now point users to GPT-5 mini instead, and a June 2024 knowledge cutoff, now roughly two years stale, and no reasoning mode. At $0.4 in / $1.6 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
Grok 4.3: where it fits
The current xAI flagship: 1M context, native video input, file generation, and live X data, ahead of the still-unreleased Grok 5. Released April 30, 2026 by xAI, it is built for video understanding from native video input, generating PDF, PPTX, and XLSX files directly, real-time questions using live X data, and long-context, multi-agent reasoning.
Its trade-offs: higher context pricing on requests above 200K tokens, and less independent benchmark coverage than OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google. At $1.25 in / $2.5 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
GPT-4.1 Mini and Grok 4.3 overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. GPT-4.1 Mini costs less per token; GPT-4.1 Mini holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — GPT-4.1 Mini for very cheap high-volume text work at $0.40 in / $1.60 out per million tokens, Grok 4.3 for video understanding from native video input. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Frequently asked questions
Is GPT-4.1 Mini or Grok 4.3 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Grok 4.3, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, GPT-4.1 Mini leans toward very cheap high-volume text work at $0.40 in / $1.60 out per million tokens while Grok 4.3 leans toward video understanding from native video input, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 Mini or Grok 4.3?
GPT-4.1 Mini is cheaper — $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens vs $1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens, roughly 3.1× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Effectively neither — 1M vs 1M is a difference of a few percent. Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both GPT-4.1 Mini and Grok 4.3 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you GPT-4.1 Mini, Grok 4.3 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, GPT-4.1 Mini or Grok 4.3?
Grok 4.3 — released April 30, 2026, about 13 months after GPT-4.1 Mini.
GPT-4.1 Mini vs Grok 4.3
OpenAI · US | xAI · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick GPT-4.1 Mini for very cheap high-volume text work at $0.40 in / $1.60 out per million tokens or instruction following above its weight class — 84.1% on ifeval, beating gpt-4o. Pick Grok 4.3 for video understanding from native video input or generating pdf, pptx, and xlsx files directly. On a tight budget at scale, GPT-4.1 Mini is the value pick.
GPT-4.1 Mini (OpenAI) and Grok 4.3 (xAI) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. GPT-4.1 Mini is a cheap, fast 1M-context workhorse with strong instruction following but weak coding — already retired from ChatGPT. Grok 4.3 is the current xAI flagship: 1M context, native video input, file generation, and live X data, ahead of the still-unreleased Grok 5. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
▸Price: GPT-4.1 Mini is about 3.1× cheaper on input ($0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens vs $1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
▸Context window: 1M vs 1M — within a few percent of each other, so treat this as a tie and test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
▸Recency: Grok 4.3 is the newer model by about 13 months (released April 30, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
GPT-4.1 Mini
Grok 4.3
Provider
OpenAI (US)
xAI (US)
Released
April 14, 2025
April 30, 2026
Context window
1M (~1,571 pages)
1M (~1,500 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens
$1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image, code
text, image, video, code
SWE-Bench Verified
23.6%
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Very cheap high-volume text work at $0.40 in / $1.60 out per million tokens
GPT-4.1 Mini
At $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens it undercuts Grok 4.3 ($1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
Instruction following above its weight class — 84.1% on IFEval, beating GPT-4o
GPT-4.1 Mini
Grok 4.3 is comparatively weak here — higher context pricing on requests above 200K tokens
Multi-turn coherence for its tier — 35.8% on MultiChallenge, roughly 1.8x GPT-4o mini
GPT-4.1 Mini
A cheap, fast 1M-context workhorse with strong instruction following but weak coding — already retired from ChatGPT — and it runs cheaper at $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens.
Video understanding from native video input
Grok 4.3
The current xAI flagship: 1M context, native video input, file generation, and live X data, ahead of the still-unreleased Grok 5 — and it is the newer of the two.
Generating PDF, PPTX, and XLSX files directly
Grok 4.3
Grok 4.3 lists generating PDF, PPTX, and XLSX files directly among its strengths; GPT-4.1 Mini does not.
Real-time questions using live X data
Grok 4.3
Grok 4.3 lists real-time questions using live X data among its strengths; GPT-4.1 Mini does not.
Lowest cost at scale
GPT-4.1 Mini
At $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ GPT-4.1 Mini
At $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens it undercuts Grok 4.3, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ GPT-4.1 Mini
Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is very cheap high-volume text work at $0.40 in / $1.60 out per million tokens
→ GPT-4.1 Mini
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is video understanding from native video input
→ Grok 4.3
That is its strongest area.
GPT-4.1 Mini: where it fits
A cheap, fast 1M-context workhorse with strong instruction following but weak coding — already retired from ChatGPT. Released April 14, 2025 by OpenAI, it is built for very cheap high-volume text work at $0.40 in / $1.60 out per million tokens, instruction following above its weight class — 84.1% on IFEval, beating GPT-4o, multi-turn coherence for its tier — 35.8% on MultiChallenge, roughly 1.8x GPT-4o mini, and a full 1M context at flat pricing, with no long-context premium.
Its trade-offs are real: weak at agentic coding — its 23.6% on SWE-Bench Verified sits below GPT-4o's 33.2%, retired from ChatGPT in February 2026, and OpenAI's own docs now point users to GPT-5 mini instead, and a June 2024 knowledge cutoff, now roughly two years stale, and no reasoning mode. At $0.4 in / $1.6 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
Grok 4.3: where it fits
The current xAI flagship: 1M context, native video input, file generation, and live X data, ahead of the still-unreleased Grok 5. Released April 30, 2026 by xAI, it is built for video understanding from native video input, generating PDF, PPTX, and XLSX files directly, real-time questions using live X data, and long-context, multi-agent reasoning.
Its trade-offs: higher context pricing on requests above 200K tokens, and less independent benchmark coverage than OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google. At $1.25 in / $2.5 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
GPT-4.1 Mini and Grok 4.3 overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. GPT-4.1 Mini costs less per token; GPT-4.1 Mini holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — GPT-4.1 Mini for very cheap high-volume text work at $0.40 in / $1.60 out per million tokens, Grok 4.3 for video understanding from native video input. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both GPT-4.1 Mini and Grok 4.3 without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Grok 4.3, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, GPT-4.1 Mini leans toward very cheap high-volume text work at $0.40 in / $1.60 out per million tokens while Grok 4.3 leans toward video understanding from native video input, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 Mini or Grok 4.3?
GPT-4.1 Mini is cheaper — $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens vs $1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens, roughly 3.1× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Effectively neither — 1M vs 1M is a difference of a few percent. Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both GPT-4.1 Mini and Grok 4.3 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you GPT-4.1 Mini, Grok 4.3 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, GPT-4.1 Mini or Grok 4.3?
Grok 4.3 — released April 30, 2026, about 13 months after GPT-4.1 Mini.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.