Claude Opus 4.5 vs GPT-4.1 Mini

Claude Opus 4.5 (2025) and GPT-4.1 Mini (2025) are frontier reasoning models from Anthropic and OpenAI. Claude Opus 4.5 ships a 200k-token context window, while GPT-4.1 Mini ships a 1.05m-token context window. On SWE-bench Verified, Claude Opus 4.5 leads by 57.3 pts. On pricing, GPT-4.1 Mini costs $0.40/1M input tokens versus $5/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.

GPT-4.1 Mini is ~1150% cheaper at $0.40/1M; pay for Claude Opus 4.5 only for coding workflow support.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalClaude Opus 4.5GPT-4.1 Mini
Best forreasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agentsmultimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and long-context analysis
Decision fitCoding, RAG, and AgentsCoding, RAG, and Agents
Context window200k1.05m
Cheapest output$25/1M tokens$1.60/1M tokens
Provider routes6 tracked4 tracked
Shared benchmarksSWE-bench Verified leader3 shared

Decision tradeoffs

Choose Claude Opus 4.5 when...
  • Claude Opus 4.5 holds a shared-benchmark lead on SWE-bench Verified, ahead by 57.3 points.
  • Claude Opus 4.5 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
  • Claude Opus 4.5 uniquely exposes Reasoning in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags Claude Opus 4.5 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Choose GPT-4.1 Mini when...
  • GPT-4.1 Mini has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
  • GPT-4.1 Mini has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $1.60/1M tokens.
  • Local decision data tags GPT-4.1 Mini for Coding, RAG, and Agents.

Monthly cost at traffic

Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.

Lower estimate GPT-4.1 Mini

Claude Opus 4.5

$10,250

Cheapest tracked route/tier: Microsoft Foundry

GPT-4.1 Mini

$720

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Estimated monthly gap: $9,530. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

Claude Opus 4.5 -> GPT-4.1 Mini
  • Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • GPT-4.1 Mini is $23.40/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
  • Check replacement coverage for Reasoning before moving production traffic.
GPT-4.1 Mini -> Claude Opus 4.5
  • Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • Claude Opus 4.5 is $23.40/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
  • Claude Opus 4.5 adds Reasoning in local capability data.

Specs

Specification
Released2025-11-012025-04-01
Context window200k1.05m
Parameters——
ArchitectureDecoder OnlyDecoder Only
LicenseProprietaryProprietary
OpennessProprietaryProprietary
WeightsNot releasedNot released
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: conditionalCommercial use: conditional
Knowledge cutoff2025-122025-01

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeClaude Opus 4.5GPT-4.1 Mini
Input price$5/1M tokens$0.40/1M tokens
Output price$25/1M tokens$1.60/1M tokens
Providers
Microsoft FoundryAnthropicGCP Vertex AIAWS BedrockOpenRouterVercel AI Gateway
OpenRouterReplicate APIOpenAI APIVercel AI Gateway

Capabilities

CapabilityClaude Opus 4.5GPT-4.1 Mini
VisionYesYes
MultimodalYesYes
ReasoningYesNo
JSON / Tool useYesYes
Structured outputsYesYes
Code executionYesYes
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useNoNo
Parallel agentsNoNo

Benchmarks

BenchmarkClaude Opus 4.5GPT-4.1 Mini
SWE-bench Verified80.923.6
Aider Polyglot72.032.4
BFCL77.550.5

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Last reviewed: 2026-10-07. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.