GPT-4.1 Mini vs Llama 4 Maverick
OpenAI · US | Meta · 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 Llama 4 Maverick for open weights, 1m context or strong image + text understanding. Choose Llama 4 Maverick if you need self-hosting or data privacy; GPT-4.1 Mini if you want a managed API.
GPT-4.1 Mini (OpenAI) and Llama 4 Maverick (Meta) 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. Llama 4 Maverick is meta's open-weight 1M-context multimodal model for self-hosted deployments. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Cost model: Llama 4 Maverick ships open weights you can self-host (hardware cost only, no per-token fee), while GPT-4.1 Mini is API-metered at $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens. Your choice depends on whether you want zero marginal cost at the price of running infrastructure.
- ▸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.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | GPT-4.1 Mini | Llama 4 Maverick |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI (US) | Meta (US) |
| Released | April 14, 2025 | April 2025 |
| Context window | 1M (~1,571 pages) | 1M (~1,500 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens | Open weight (self-host / free) |
| Open weight? | No — API only | Yes — self-hostable |
| Modalities | text, image, code | text, image, 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
A cheap, fast 1M-context workhorse with strong instruction following but weak coding — already retired from ChatGPT — and it is the newer of the two.
Instruction following above its weight class — 84.1% on IFEval, beating GPT-4o
GPT-4.1 Mini
GPT-4.1 Mini lists instruction following above its weight class — 84.1% on IFEval, beating GPT-4o among its strengths; Llama 4 Maverick does not.
Multi-turn coherence for its tier — 35.8% on MultiChallenge, roughly 1.8x GPT-4o mini
GPT-4.1 Mini
GPT-4.1 Mini lists multi-turn coherence for its tier — 35.8% on MultiChallenge, roughly 1.8x GPT-4o mini among its strengths; Llama 4 Maverick does not.
Open weights, 1M context
Llama 4 Maverick
Open weights make this possible at all — GPT-4.1 Mini is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.
Strong image + text understanding
Llama 4 Maverick
Meta's open-weight 1M-context multimodal model for self-hosted deployments — and its weights are open while GPT-4.1 Mini is API-only.
Self-hostable
Llama 4 Maverick
Llama 4 Maverick lists self-hostable among its strengths; GPT-4.1 Mini does not.
Lowest cost at scale
Llama 4 Maverick
Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of GPT-4.1 Mini's $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Llama 4 Maverick
At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts GPT-4.1 Mini, 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.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs
→ Llama 4 Maverick
Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; GPT-4.1 Mini is API-only.
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 open weights, 1m context
→ Llama 4 Maverick
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.
Llama 4 Maverick: where it fits
Meta's open-weight 1M-context multimodal model for self-hosted deployments. Released April 2025 by Meta, it is built for open weights, 1M context, strong image + text understanding, self-hostable, and 400B MoE, 17B active.
Its trade-offs: needs serious hardware to self-host, and trails closed frontier on reasoning. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. Llama 4 Maverick gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. GPT-4.1 Mini gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Want both GPT-4.1 Mini and Llama 4 Maverick 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.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is GPT-4.1 Mini or Llama 4 Maverick better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Llama 4 Maverick, 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 Llama 4 Maverick leans toward open weights, 1m context, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 Mini or Llama 4 Maverick?
Llama 4 Maverick is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while GPT-4.1 Mini is API-metered at $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
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 Llama 4 Maverick together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you GPT-4.1 Mini, Llama 4 Maverick 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 Llama 4 Maverick?
GPT-4.1 Mini — released April 14, 2025, about 9 days after Llama 4 Maverick.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.