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Precision Benchmarks

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© 2026 CompareLLM. Public benchmark data aggregated from Arena Elo, LiveBench, SWE-bench & OpenRouter.

Every score has a dated snapshot.

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  3. GPT-4o vs GPT-5 mini
Independent ReportPairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 17, 2026
GPT-4o(OpenAI)
vs
GPT-5 mini(OpenAI)

GPT-4o vs GPT-5 mini benchmark

In this head-to-head showdown, GPT-5 mini delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,410 vs 1,335), while GPT-4o leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (54.8%), while GPT-5 mini is more budget-friendly at $2/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Executive Comparison Verdict

Bottom Line: GPT-5 mini holds the advantage over GPT-4o in overall benchmark performance and human evaluation rankings. Choose GPT-5 mini for demanding workloads, or review the breakdown below to compare coding and pricing metrics.
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Executive Verdict Summary

GPT-5 mini holds empirical advantage (7 of 9 metrics)

Coding / SWESWE-bench
GPT-4oTop code solve rate
ReasoningGPQA / Live
GPT-4oTop logical accuracy
Best Value$/1M Tok
GPT-5 miniLowest API billing cost
Speed / TokTok/Sec
GPT-5 miniFastest stream rate

Verified Advantage Breakdown

9 benchmarks evaluated across capability, speed, and cost

GPT-4o (2)GPT-5 mini (7)
GPT-4o
2 of 9 Wins
✓SWE-bench✓GPQA Diamond
GPT-5 mini
7 of 9 Wins
✓Preference Elo✓LiveBench✓Time to first token✓Output speed✓Input price✓Output price✓Context window
OpenAI
Leads 2 of 9
GPT-4o

Previous OpenAI flagship. Still a common compare baseline on legacy pages.

Elo 1,335In: $2.5 · Out: $10/1M
OpenAI
Leads 7 of 9
GPT-5 mini

Cost-efficient GPT-5 distill for high-volume agents.

Mini DistillElo 1,410In: $0.25 · Out: $2/1M

GPT-4 Series Lineage & Sibling Variants

4 models

Currently comparing GPT-4o vs GPT-5 mini. Alternative family tiers available.

Active: GPT-4o
GPT-4o mini$0.6GPT-4.5 Orion$150OpenAI: GPT-4$60
Top Rival Showdowns for GPT-4o
All Matchups
Compare vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5vs Gemini 3 Provs Grok 4.6vs DeepSeek V4 Provs Qwen 3 Max
Preference LeaderGPT-5 mini Wins

GPT-5 mini

+75 Arena Elo pts

Throughput LeaderGPT-5 mini Wins

GPT-5 mini

155 tok/s

Value per Dollar LeaderGPT-5 mini Wins

GPT-5 mini

$2 / 1M output

Capability Percentiles

Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Leaders Matchup Capability Radar

Comparing top standard models across 6 key capability dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.

Tap any node to inspect
0–100 %ile

Overall Matchup Breakdown

Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.

GPT-4o (2)vsGPT-5 mini (8)
GPT-4o: 2W (20%)Overall: GPT-5 miniGPT-5 mini: 8W (80%)
← GPT-4oGPT-5 mini →
🏆GPT-5 mini Leads(3/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Benchmark
GPT-4ovsGPT-5 mini
Preference Elo
1,335vs1,410+75
Coding Elo
—vs1,395
SWE-bench
54.8%vs52.4%+2.4%
LiveBench
54.2%vs61.2%+7%
GPQA Diamond
73.2%vs72%+1.2%
GPT-4o: 2WGPT-5 mini: 3W
🏆GPT-5 mini Leads(2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Benchmark
GPT-4ovsGPT-5 mini
Output speed
110 tok/svs155 tok/s+45 tok/s
Time to first token
180 msvs140 ms+40 ms
GPT-4o: 0WGPT-5 mini: 2W
🏆GPT-5 mini Leads(3/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Benchmark
GPT-4ovsGPT-5 mini
Output price
$10/1Mvs$2/1M+$8/1M
Input price
$2.5/1Mvs$0.25/1M+$2.25/1M
Context window
128kvs400k+272k
GPT-4o: 0WGPT-5 mini: 3W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

GPT-4oGPT-5 mini
Preference Elo(Higher is better)
GPT-5 mini +75
GPT-4o1,335
GPT-5 mini1,410
Coding Elo(Higher is better)
GPT-4o—
GPT-5 mini1,395
LiveBench(Higher is better)
GPT-5 mini +7%
GPT-4o54.2%
GPT-5 mini61.2%
SWE-bench(Higher is better)
GPT-4o +2.4%
GPT-4o54.8%
GPT-5 mini52.4%
GPQA Diamond(Higher is better)
GPT-4o +1.2%
GPT-4o73.2%
GPT-5 mini72%
Time to first token(Lower is better)
GPT-5 mini +40 ms
GPT-4o180 ms
GPT-5 mini140 ms
Output speed(Higher is better)
GPT-5 mini +45 tok/s
GPT-4o110 tok/s
GPT-5 mini155 tok/s
Input price(Lower is better)
GPT-5 mini +$2.25/1M
GPT-4o$2.5/1M
GPT-5 mini$0.25/1M
Output price(Lower is better)
GPT-5 mini +$8/1M
GPT-4o$10/1M
GPT-5 mini$2/1M
Context window(Higher is better)
GPT-5 mini +272k
GPT-4o128k
GPT-5 mini400k
BenchmarkGPT-4oGPT-5 miniDifference / Delta
Preference Elo
1,335
lmarena · Aug 17, 2026
1,410
lmarena · Aug 17, 2026
GPT-5 mini+75
Coding Elo—
1,395
lmarena · Aug 17, 2026
—
LiveBench
54.2%
livebench · Aug 17, 2026
61.2%
livebench · Aug 17, 2026
GPT-5 mini+7%
SWE-bench
54.8%
swebench · Aug 17, 2026
52.4%
swebench · Aug 17, 2026
GPT-4o+2.4%
GPQA Diamond
73.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
72%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-4o+1.2%
Time to first token
180 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
140 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-5 mini+40 ms
Output speed
110 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
155 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-5 mini+45 tok/s
Input price
$2.5/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
$0.25/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
GPT-5 mini+$2.25/1M
Output price
$10/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
$2/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
GPT-5 mini+$8/1M
Context window
128k
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
400k
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
GPT-5 mini+272k

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).

Save 84% with GPT-5 mini
Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo
Quick Presets:
Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out
RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)
GPT-4o$237.50 / mo
In: $87.5Out: $150
GPT-5 mini$38.75 / mo
In: $8.75Out: $30
Estimated Cost Delta

GPT-5 mini is estimated to save $198.75/month ($2,385/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

  • 1
    GPT-4o:Pick GPT-4o when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
  • 2
    GPT-5 mini:Pick GPT-5 mini when you are optimizing output cost.
  • 3
    GPT-5 mini:Pick GPT-5 mini when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsGPT-4o

Higher SWE-bench (54.8%).

High-volume chatGPT-5 mini

Lower output list price ($2/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIGPT-5 mini

Lower TTFT (140 ms).

Long-document RAGGPT-5 mini

Larger window (400k).

Screenshots / visionGPT-5 mini

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (GPT-5 mini).

Target WorkloadRecommended PickEvaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agentsGPT-4oHigher SWE-bench (54.8%).
High-volume chatGPT-5 miniLower output list price ($2/1M).
Voice / low-latency UIGPT-5 miniLower TTFT (140 ms).
Long-document RAGGPT-5 miniLarger window (400k).
Screenshots / visionGPT-5 miniBoth accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (GPT-5 mini).

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news
launchAug 8, 2025

GPT-5 mini: the 2025 distill still useful as a cheap OpenAI baseline

High-volume agents that cannot pay Sol. Compare to Luna before you assume the new cheap SKU wins.

newsMay 13, 2024

GPT-4o stays as the 2024 compare anchor people still search

Deprecated for buying. Kept because “4o vs sonnet” is still a typed query.

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CompareLLM AI Matrix

Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry

LIVE BENCHMARK
VS
OpenAI

GPT-4o

Elo 1,335
SWE-bench54.8%
Speed (tok/s)110 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$2.5/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$10/1M
OpenAI

GPT-5 mini

Elo 1,410
SWE-bench52.4%
Speed (tok/s)155 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$0.25/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$2/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, GPT-4o or GPT-5 mini?
GPT-5 mini has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,410). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.
Which is better at coding, GPT-4o or GPT-5 mini?
GPT-4o leads SWE-bench at 54.8% vs 52.4%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
GPT-5 mini output tokens are $2/1M versus $10/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, GPT-4o or GPT-5 mini?
GPT-5 mini has the lower time-to-first-token (140 ms vs 180 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?
GPT-5 mini accepts 400k tokens versus 128k.
Can I self-host either model?
Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?
No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?
Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. GPT-4o and GPT-5 mini Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Related news

  • launch · Aug 8, 2025

    GPT-5 mini: the 2025 distill still useful as a cheap OpenAI baseline

  • news · May 13, 2024

    GPT-4o stays as the 2024 compare anchor people still search

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All GPT-4o matchups →|All GPT-5 mini matchups →
GPT-4o vs GPT-4 Turbo (previous gpt-flagship)GPT-4o vs OpenAI: o1 (next gpt-flagship)GPT-5 mini vs OpenAI: o3 Mini (previous gpt-mini)GPT-5 mini vs GPT-5.6 Luna (next gpt-mini)GPT-5 vs GPT-5 miniGPT-4.5 Orion vs GPT-5 mini