Pick GPT-4o mini for very low cost per token for its capability tier or strong coding for a small model (87.2% humaneval). Pick MAI-1-preview for microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai or ranked in the top 15 on lm arena at launch. On a tight budget at scale, MAI-1-preview is the value pick.
GPT-4o mini (OpenAI) and MAI-1-preview (Microsoft) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. GPT-4o mini is openAI's budget small multimodal model — cheap, fast text-and-vision intelligence that outscored peer small models like Gemini 1.5 Flash and Claude 3 Haiku on MMLU and HumanEval at launch. MAI-1-preview is microsoft's first fully in-house foundation model - a strategic break from sole reliance on OpenAI, trained on ~15,000 H100 GPUs. Their biggest split is price, and the breakdown below shows exactly how that plays out for your workload.
Key differences
Context window: both advertise 128K (~192 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
Recency: MAI-1-preview is the newer model by about 14 months (released August 28, 2025), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Specifications
Spec
GPT-4o mini
MAI-1-preview
Provider
OpenAI (US)
Microsoft (US)
Released
July 18, 2024
August 28, 2025
Context window
128K (~192 pages)
128K (~192 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens
Not published
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image
text, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Very low cost per token for its capability tier: GPT-4o mini — MAI-1-preview is comparatively weak here — no public per-token API pricing - not sold as a standalone product
Strong coding for a small model (87.2% HumanEval): GPT-4o mini — MAI-1-preview is comparatively weak here — a 'preview' release, not yet positioned as Microsoft's primary Copilot model
Leading MMLU among peer small models (82%): GPT-4o mini — GPT-4o mini lists leading MMLU among peer small models (82%) among its strengths; MAI-1-preview does not.
Microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on OpenAI: MAI-1-preview — GPT-4o mini is comparatively weak here — weaker on hard reasoning and coding than frontier models
Ranked in the top 15 on LM Arena at launch: MAI-1-preview — Microsoft's first fully in-house foundation model - a strategic break from sole reliance on OpenAI, trained on ~15,000 H100 GPUs — and it is the newer of the two.
Trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment: MAI-1-preview — MAI-1-preview lists trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment among its strengths; GPT-4o mini does not.
Lowest cost at scale: MAI-1-preview — Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of GPT-4o mini's $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: MAI-1-preview — At Not published it undercuts GPT-4o mini, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Anyone whose priority is very low cost per token for its capability tier: GPT-4o mini — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai: MAI-1-preview — That is its strongest area.
GPT-4o mini: where it fits
OpenAI's budget small multimodal model — cheap, fast text-and-vision intelligence that outscored peer small models like Gemini 1.5 Flash and Claude 3 Haiku on MMLU and HumanEval at launch. Released July 18, 2024 by OpenAI, it is built for very low cost per token for its capability tier, strong coding for a small model (87.2% HumanEval), leading MMLU among peer small models (82%), and text and image (vision) understanding in the API.
Its trade-offs are real: only 128K context with an October 2023 knowledge cutoff, and weaker on hard reasoning and coding than frontier models. At $0.15 in / $0.6 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
MAI-1-preview: where it fits
Microsoft's first fully in-house foundation model - a strategic break from sole reliance on OpenAI, trained on ~15,000 H100 GPUs. Released August 28, 2025 by Microsoft, it is built for microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on OpenAI, ranked in the top 15 on LM Arena at launch, trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment, and rolled into Copilot alongside OpenAI models, giving Microsoft a real second option.
Its trade-offs: a 'preview' release, not yet positioned as Microsoft's primary Copilot model, no public per-token API pricing - not sold as a standalone product, and distinct from Microsoft's later MAI-Thinking-1 reasoning model - an earlier, more general-purpose entry.
The bottom line for this matchup
GPT-4o mini and MAI-1-preview overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. MAI-1-preview costs less per token; and each leads in its own area — GPT-4o mini for very low cost per token for its capability tier, MAI-1-preview for microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Frequently asked questions
Is GPT-4o mini or MAI-1-preview better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, GPT-4o mini leans toward very low cost per token for its capability tier while MAI-1-preview leans toward microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4o mini or MAI-1-preview?
MAI-1-preview is cheaper — $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens vs Not published.
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 128K (~192 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both GPT-4o mini and MAI-1-preview together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you GPT-4o mini, MAI-1-preview 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-4o mini or MAI-1-preview?
MAI-1-preview — released August 28, 2025, about 14 months after GPT-4o mini.
GPT-4o mini vs MAI-1-preview
OpenAI · US | Microsoft · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick GPT-4o mini for very low cost per token for its capability tier or strong coding for a small model (87.2% humaneval). Pick MAI-1-preview for microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai or ranked in the top 15 on lm arena at launch. On a tight budget at scale, MAI-1-preview is the value pick.
GPT-4o mini (OpenAI) and MAI-1-preview (Microsoft) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. GPT-4o mini is openAI's budget small multimodal model — cheap, fast text-and-vision intelligence that outscored peer small models like Gemini 1.5 Flash and Claude 3 Haiku on MMLU and HumanEval at launch. MAI-1-preview is microsoft's first fully in-house foundation model - a strategic break from sole reliance on OpenAI, trained on ~15,000 H100 GPUs. Their biggest split is price, and the breakdown below shows exactly how that plays out for your workload.
Key differences at a glance
▸Context window: both advertise 128K (~192 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
▸Recency: MAI-1-preview is the newer model by about 14 months (released August 28, 2025), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
GPT-4o mini
MAI-1-preview
Provider
OpenAI (US)
Microsoft (US)
Released
July 18, 2024
August 28, 2025
Context window
128K (~192 pages)
128K (~192 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens
Not published
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image
text, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Very low cost per token for its capability tier
GPT-4o mini
MAI-1-preview is comparatively weak here — no public per-token API pricing - not sold as a standalone product
Strong coding for a small model (87.2% HumanEval)
GPT-4o mini
MAI-1-preview is comparatively weak here — a 'preview' release, not yet positioned as Microsoft's primary Copilot model
Leading MMLU among peer small models (82%)
GPT-4o mini
GPT-4o mini lists leading MMLU among peer small models (82%) among its strengths; MAI-1-preview does not.
Microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on OpenAI
MAI-1-preview
GPT-4o mini is comparatively weak here — weaker on hard reasoning and coding than frontier models
Ranked in the top 15 on LM Arena at launch
MAI-1-preview
Microsoft's first fully in-house foundation model - a strategic break from sole reliance on OpenAI, trained on ~15,000 H100 GPUs — and it is the newer of the two.
Trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment
MAI-1-preview
MAI-1-preview lists trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment among its strengths; GPT-4o mini does not.
Lowest cost at scale
MAI-1-preview
Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of GPT-4o mini's $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ MAI-1-preview
At Not published it undercuts GPT-4o mini, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Anyone whose priority is very low cost per token for its capability tier
→ GPT-4o mini
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai
→ MAI-1-preview
That is its strongest area.
GPT-4o mini: where it fits
OpenAI's budget small multimodal model — cheap, fast text-and-vision intelligence that outscored peer small models like Gemini 1.5 Flash and Claude 3 Haiku on MMLU and HumanEval at launch. Released July 18, 2024 by OpenAI, it is built for very low cost per token for its capability tier, strong coding for a small model (87.2% HumanEval), leading MMLU among peer small models (82%), and text and image (vision) understanding in the API.
Its trade-offs are real: only 128K context with an October 2023 knowledge cutoff, and weaker on hard reasoning and coding than frontier models. At $0.15 in / $0.6 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
MAI-1-preview: where it fits
Microsoft's first fully in-house foundation model - a strategic break from sole reliance on OpenAI, trained on ~15,000 H100 GPUs. Released August 28, 2025 by Microsoft, it is built for microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on OpenAI, ranked in the top 15 on LM Arena at launch, trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment, and rolled into Copilot alongside OpenAI models, giving Microsoft a real second option.
Its trade-offs: a 'preview' release, not yet positioned as Microsoft's primary Copilot model, no public per-token API pricing - not sold as a standalone product, and distinct from Microsoft's later MAI-Thinking-1 reasoning model - an earlier, more general-purpose entry.
The bottom line for this matchup
GPT-4o mini and MAI-1-preview overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. MAI-1-preview costs less per token; and each leads in its own area — GPT-4o mini for very low cost per token for its capability tier, MAI-1-preview for microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both GPT-4o mini and MAI-1-preview 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.
Is GPT-4o mini or MAI-1-preview better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, GPT-4o mini leans toward very low cost per token for its capability tier while MAI-1-preview leans toward microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4o mini or MAI-1-preview?
MAI-1-preview is cheaper — $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens vs Not published.
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 128K (~192 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both GPT-4o mini and MAI-1-preview together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you GPT-4o mini, MAI-1-preview 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-4o mini or MAI-1-preview?
MAI-1-preview — released August 28, 2025, about 14 months after GPT-4o 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.