AI model comparison
GPT-4.1 Mini vs Sonar
Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.
OpenAI
GPT-4.1 Mini
GPT-4.1 Mini is a mid-sized model delivering performance competitive with GPT-4o at substantially lower latency and cost.
- Input / 1M
- $0.40
- Output / 1M
- $1.60
- Context
- 1.05M
Perplexity
Sonar
Sonar is lightweight, affordable, fast, and simple to use — now featuring citations and the ability to customize sources.
- Input / 1M
- $1
- Output / 1M
- $1
- Context
- 127K
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
GPT-4.1 Mini
1.6x cheaper for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
GPT-4.1 Mini
10.2 vs 7.7 on Artificial Analysis
Larger context window
GPT-4.1 Mini
1.05M vs 127K tokens
Newer release
GPT-4.1 Mini
Released April 14, 2025
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores
Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.
Intelligence index
GPT-4.1 Mini10.2Sonar7.7Coding index
GPT-4.1 Mini20.2SonarNot availableAgentic index
GPT-4.1 MiniNot availableSonarNot availablePricing
GPT-4.1 Mini vs Sonar API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | GPT-4.1 Mini | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.40 | $1 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $1.60 | $1 |
| Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens | $0.10 | Not available |
| Cache writePer 1M tokens | Not available | Not available |
| Web searchPer request | $0.01 | $0.005 |
What it costs in practice
Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.
Chat message
2K in, 500 out
GPT-4.1 Mini$1.60Sonar$2.50Coding task
30K in, 4K out
GPT-4.1 Mini$18.40$9.40 cachedSonar$34Long document summary
150K in, 2K out
GPT-4.1 Mini$63.20$18.20 cachedSonar$152Specs
Context window and capabilities
How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.
| Metric | GPT-4.1 Mini | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 1.05M tokens | 127K tokens |
| Max output | 33K tokens | 114K tokens |
| Input types | File, Image, Text | Image, Text |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | Not available | Not available |
| Default reasoning effort | Not available | Not available |
| Release date | April 14, 2025 | January 27, 2025 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | GPT-4.1 Mini | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Supported | Not supported |
| Structured outputs | Supported | Not supported |
| JSON mode | Supported | Not supported |
| Reasoning | Not supported | Not supported |
| Temperature | Supported | Supported |
| Stop sequences | Not supported | Not supported |
| Deterministic seed | Supported | Not supported |
| Verbosity control | Not supported | Not supported |
Keep exploring
More on these models
Other head-to-heads, the full model page, and the alternatives list for each model.
GPT-4.1 MiniView full model details- GPT-4.1 Mini vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs GPT-4o-mini
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs GPT-5.6 Luna Pro
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs DeepSeek V3 0324
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs GLM 4.5 Air
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs Mistral Medium 3.1
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs Devstral 2 2512
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs Kimi K2 0711
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs o3 Mini
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs MiniMax M1
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs R1
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs GLM 4.6V
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs o3 Mini High
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs Trinity Large Thinking
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs GPT-4o (2024-08-06)
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs Mistral Large 3 2512
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs Mistral Medium 3
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs GPT-4o (2024-11-20)
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs GLM 4.5V
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs Hermes 4 405B
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs Nova Pro 1.0
- GPT-4.1 Mini vs GPT-3.5 Turbo
SonarView full model details- Sonar vs GPT-4o-mini
- Sonar vs Llama 3.3 70B Instruct
- Sonar vs DeepSeek V3 0324
- Sonar vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct
- Sonar vs Qwen3 Coder Next
- Sonar vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
- Sonar vs GLM 4.5V
- Sonar vs Hermes 3 405B Instruct
- Sonar vs Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct
- Sonar vs Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct
- Sonar vs GPT-3.5 Turbo
Our take
GPT-4.1 Mini is 1.6x cheaper for a typical chat. GPT-4.1 Mini scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (10.2 vs 7.7). GPT-4.1 Mini has the larger context window (1.05M vs 127K tokens). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is GPT-4.1 Mini or Sonar cheaper?
GPT-4.1 Mini is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). GPT-4.1 Mini costs $0.40 per 1M input tokens and $1.60 per 1M output tokens, while Sonar costs $1 per 1M input tokens and $1 per 1M output tokens.
Which has a bigger context window, GPT-4.1 Mini or Sonar?
GPT-4.1 Mini supports up to 1.05M tokens of context, compared with 127K for Sonar.
Is GPT-4.1 Mini smarter than Sonar?
On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, GPT-4.1 Mini scores 10.2 and Sonar scores 7.7, putting GPT-4.1 Mini ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.
Can I use GPT-4.1 Mini and Sonar at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see GPT-4.1 Mini and Sonar answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to GPT-4.1 Mini and Sonar at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.