GPT-4.1 Mini vs Muse Spark 1.1
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 Muse Spark 1.1 for scaled tool use — 88.1 on mcp atlas, ahead of opus 4.8 and gpt-5.5 (vendor-reported) or subagent orchestration — trained to run as a main agent or a subagent that escalates when stuck. On a tight budget at scale, GPT-4.1 Mini is the value pick.
GPT-4.1 Mini (OpenAI) and Muse Spark 1.1 (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. Muse Spark 1.1 is meta's first paid, closed-weight frontier model — class-leading agentic tool use at a quarter of rivals' price, but it trails on coding. 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/$4.25 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: Muse Spark 1.1 is the newer model by about 15 months (released July 9, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | GPT-4.1 Mini | Muse Spark 1.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI (US) | Meta (US) |
| Released | April 14, 2025 | July 9, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M (~1,571 pages) | 1M (~1,573 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens | $1.25/$4.25 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 | 54.1% |
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 Muse Spark 1.1 ($1.25/$4.25 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
Muse Spark 1.1 is comparatively weak here — closed weights end the free, self-hostable Llama path — this is the first model Meta has charged for
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.
Scaled tool use — 88.1 on MCP Atlas, ahead of Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5 (vendor-reported)
Muse Spark 1.1
Meta's first paid, closed-weight frontier model — class-leading agentic tool use at a quarter of rivals' price, but it trails on coding — and it is the newer of the two.
Subagent orchestration — trained to run as a main agent or a subagent that escalates when stuck
Muse Spark 1.1
GPT-4.1 Mini is comparatively weak here — weak at agentic coding — its 23.6% on SWE-Bench Verified sits below GPT-4o's 33.2%
Professional agentic work — 54.7 on JobBench, a wide margin over rivals (vendor-reported)
Muse Spark 1.1
Muse Spark 1.1 lists professional agentic work — 54.7 on JobBench, a wide margin over rivals (vendor-reported) 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 Muse Spark 1.1, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Muse Spark 1.1
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 scaled tool use — 88.1 on mcp atlas, ahead of opus 4.8 and gpt-5.5 (vendor-reported)
→ Muse Spark 1.1
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.
Muse Spark 1.1: where it fits
Meta's first paid, closed-weight frontier model — class-leading agentic tool use at a quarter of rivals' price, but it trails on coding. Released July 9, 2026 by Meta, it is built for scaled tool use — 88.1 on MCP Atlas, ahead of Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5 (vendor-reported), subagent orchestration — trained to run as a main agent or a subagent that escalates when stuck, professional agentic work — 54.7 on JobBench, a wide margin over rivals (vendor-reported), and managing its own context: it compacts the 1M window mid-run instead of relying on external windowing.
Its trade-offs: not the coding leader its launch framing implied — Meta's own report concedes it trails Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5 on every coding benchmark, the 1M window oversells its recall: 54.1 on MRCR v2 at 1M against GPT-5.5's 74.0, closed weights end the free, self-hostable Llama path — this is the first model Meta has charged for, and uS-only public preview behind a waitlist, and every benchmark is vendor-reported with no third-party replication. At $1.25 in / $4.25 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
GPT-4.1 Mini and Muse Spark 1.1 overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. GPT-4.1 Mini costs less per token; Muse Spark 1.1 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, Muse Spark 1.1 for scaled tool use — 88.1 on mcp atlas, ahead of opus 4.8 and gpt-5.5 (vendor-reported). Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both GPT-4.1 Mini and Muse Spark 1.1 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 Muse Spark 1.1 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Muse Spark 1.1, 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 Muse Spark 1.1 leans toward scaled tool use — 88.1 on mcp atlas, ahead of opus 4.8 and gpt-5.5 (vendor-reported), and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 Mini or Muse Spark 1.1?
GPT-4.1 Mini is cheaper — $0.4/$1.6 per 1M tokens vs $1.25/$4.25 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 Muse Spark 1.1 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you GPT-4.1 Mini, Muse Spark 1.1 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 Muse Spark 1.1?
Muse Spark 1.1 — released July 9, 2026, about 15 months after GPT-4.1 Mini.
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.