GPT-4.1 Nano vs GPT-5.6 Luna Pro
| Signal | GPT-4.1 Nano | Delta | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 83 | -17 | |
Benchmarks | 44 | -43 | |
Pricing | 100 | +0 | |
Context window size | 96 | 0 | |
Recency | 45 | -55 | |
Output Capacity | 75 | -10 | |
| Overall Result | 1 wins | of 6 | 5 wins |
Score History
42.1
current score
GPT-5.6 Luna Pro
right now
89
current score
GPT-4.1 Nano
OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Luna Pro
OpenAI
GPT-4.1 Nano saves you $10.00/month
That's $120.00/year compared to GPT-5.6 Luna Pro at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | GPT-4.1 Nano | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 42 | 89 | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro |
| Rank | #231 | #32 | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro |
| Quality Rank | #231 | #32 | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro |
| Adoption Rank | #231 | #32 | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro |
| Parameters | -- | -- | -- |
| Context Window | 1048K | 1050K | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro |
| Pricing | $0.10/$0.40/M | $0.10/$0.60/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 83 | 100 | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro |
| Benchmarks | 44 | 88 | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro |
| Pricing | 100 | 99 | GPT-4.1 Nano |
| Context window size | 96 | 96 | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro |
| Recency | 45 | 100 | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro |
| Output Capacity | 75 | 85 | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro |
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 42/100 (rank #231), placing it in the top 21% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 89/100 (rank #32), placing it in the top 89% of all 290 models tracked.
GPT-5.6 Luna Pro has a 47-point advantage, which typically translates to noticeably stronger performance on complex reasoning, code generation, and multi-step tasks.
Choose GPT-4.1 Nano when you need:
- High-volume production workloads where API costs must be minimized
Choose GPT-5.6 Luna Pro when you need:
- Step-by-step reasoning and chain-of-thought problem solving
GPT-5.6 Luna Pro offers 29% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $7.50/month with GPT-4.1 Nano vs $10.50/month with GPT-5.6 Luna Pro - a $3.00 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-4.1 Nano also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (1050K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($0.40/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily
Creative writing & content
Higher overall composite score (89/100) 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-5.6 Luna Pro clearly outperforms GPT-4.1 Nano with a significant 46.9-point lead. For most general use cases, GPT-5.6 Luna Pro is the stronger choice. However, GPT-4.1 Nano may still excel in niche scenarios.
By Use Case
Best for Quality
GPT-4.1 Nano
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
GPT-4.1 Nano
29% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
GPT-4.1 Nano
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
GPT-4.1 Nano
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
GPT-4.1 Nano
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by OpenAI
- Choose for Quality - Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
- Choose for Cost - 29% lower pricing; better value at scale
- Choose for Reliability - Higher uptime and faster response speeds
- Choose for Prototyping - Stronger community support and better developer experience
- Choose for Production - Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
| Capability | GPT-4.1 Nano | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input) | ||
| Function Calling | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoningdiffers | ||
| Web Search | ||
| Image Output |
GPT-4.1 Nano
OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Luna Pro
OpenAI
GPT-4.1 Nano saves you $0.2400/month
That's 27% cheaper than GPT-5.6 Luna Pro 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-4.1 Nano | GPT-5.6 Luna Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 1.0M | 1.1M |
| Max Output Tokens | 32,768 | 128,000 |
| Open Source | No | No |
| Created | Apr 14, 2025 | Jul 9, 2026 |