| Signal | GPT-4o-mini Search Preview | Delta | GPT-5.4 Mini |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 50 | -50 | |
Benchmarks | 74 | -16 | |
Pricing | 99 | +4 | |
Context window size | 81 | -8 | |
Recency | 56 | -44 | |
Output Capacity | 70 | -15 | |
| Overall Result | 1 wins | of 6 | 5 wins |
Score History
60.8
current score
GPT-5.4 Mini
right now
79.3
current score
OpenAI
OpenAI
GPT-4o-mini Search Preview saves you $255.00/month
That's $3060.00/year compared to GPT-5.4 Mini at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | GPT-4o-mini Search Preview | GPT-5.4 Mini | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 61 | 79 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Rank | #145 | #43 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Quality Rank | #145 | #43 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Adoption Rank | #145 | #43 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Parameters | -- | -- | -- |
| Context Window | 128K | 400K | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Pricing | $0.15/$0.60/M | $0.75/$4.50/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 50 | 100 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Benchmarks | 74 | 90 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Pricing | 99 | 96 | GPT-4o-mini Search Preview |
| Context window size | 81 | 89 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Recency | 56 | 100 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
| Output Capacity | 70 | 85 | GPT-5.4 Mini |
Our score (0-100) is driven by benchmark performance (90%) from Arena Elo ratings, MMLU, GPQA, HumanEval, SWE-bench, and 15+ standardized evaluations. Capabilities and context window serve as tiebreakers (10%). Learn more about our methodology.
Scores 61/100 (rank #145), placing it in the top 50% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 79/100 (rank #43), placing it in the top 86% of all 290 models tracked.
GPT-5.4 Mini has a 19-point advantage, which typically translates to noticeably stronger performance on complex reasoning, code generation, and multi-step tasks.
GPT-4o-mini Search Preview offers 86% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $11.25/month with GPT-4o-mini Search Preview vs $78.75/month with GPT-5.4 Mini - a $67.50 monthly difference.
Both models have comparable response speeds. For most applications, the latency difference is negligible.
When latency matters most: Interactive chatbots, IDE code completion, real-time translation, and user-facing applications where response time directly impacts experience. For batch processing, background summarization, or offline analysis, latency is less critical.
Code generation & review
Based on overall model capabilities and architecture for coding tasks like generating functions, debugging, and refactoring
Customer support chatbot
Suitable for user-facing chat with competitive response times. GPT-4o-mini Search Preview also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (400K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($0.60/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily
Creative writing & content
Higher overall composite score (79/100) correlates with better nuance, coherence, and style in long-form content
Image understanding & OCR
Supports vision input - can analyze screenshots, diagrams, photos, and scanned documents directly
GPT-5.4 Mini clearly outperforms GPT-4o-mini Search Preview with a significant 18.5-point lead. For most general use cases, GPT-5.4 Mini is the stronger choice. However, GPT-4o-mini Search Preview may still excel in niche scenarios.
Best for Quality
GPT-4o-mini Search Preview
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
GPT-4o-mini Search Preview
86% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
GPT-4o-mini Search Preview
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
GPT-4o-mini Search Preview
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
GPT-4o-mini Search Preview
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by OpenAI
| Capability | GPT-4o-mini Search Preview | GPT-5.4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input)differs | ||
| Function Callingdiffers | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoningdiffers | ||
| Web Search | ||
| Image Output |
OpenAI
OpenAI
GPT-4o-mini Search Preview saves you $5.76/month
That's 85% cheaper than GPT-5.4 Mini at 1,000 tokens/request and 100 requests/day.
Assumes 60% input / 40% output token ratio per request. Actual costs may vary based on your usage pattern.
| Parameter | GPT-4o-mini Search Preview | GPT-5.4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 128K | 400K |
| Max Output Tokens | 16,384 | 128,000 |
| Open Source | No | No |
| Created | Mar 12, 2025 | Mar 17, 2026 |