GPT-4o mini vs GPT 5.1
GPT-4o mini vs GPT 5.1: GPT-4o mini is cheaper by 93% on average. GPT-4o mini from Azure OpenAI (128,000-token context, tool calls) vs. GPT 5.1 from Azure OpenAI (272,000-token context, reasoning, tool calls). Use Agent Command Center to A/B both in shadow mode and pick the winner per workload.
Side-by-side cost
Live workload comparison
Same workload run through both models. The cheaper one is highlighted.
3,000
0272,000
400
0128,000
5,000
01,000,000
At this workload, GPT-4o mini is 90% cheaper than GPT 5.1 — a savings of $1,064/month ($12,767/year).
Production recipe — Agent Command Center
strategy: cost-optimized
primary:
model: gpt-4o-mini
provider: azure-openai
fallback:
model: gpt-5-1
provider: azure-openai
shadow: { sample_rate: 0.05 } # mirror 5% of traffic to compare quality live| GPT-4o mini | GPT 5.1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.165/M | $1.25/M |
| Output price | $0.660/M | $10.00/M |
| Context window | 128,000 | 272,000 |
| Max output | 16,384 | 128,000 |
| Function calling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Vision | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audio input | — | — |
| Reasoning | — | ✓ |
| Prompt caching | ✓ | ✓ |
| Structured output | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing verified | May 12, 2026 | May 12, 2026 |
Benchmark comparison
Side-by-side public benchmark scores. Greener bar = winner.
MMMUmultimodal⚠ different settings
GPT-4o mini
59.4%
GPT 5.1
85.4%