| Signal | GPT-5 Image Mini | Delta | Grok 4.1 Fast |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 100 | -- | |
Benchmarks | 88 | +12 | |
Pricing | 98 | -1 | |
Context window size | 100 | -- | |
Recency | 95 | -5 | |
Output Capacity | 100 | +25 | |
| Overall Result | 2 wins | of 6 | 2 wins |
Score History
89.2
current score
GPT-5 Image Mini
right now
78
current score
OpenAI
xAI
Grok 4.1 Fast saves you $305.00/month
That's $3660.00/year compared to GPT-5 Image Mini at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | GPT-5 Image Mini | Grok 4.1 Fast | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 89 | 78 | GPT-5 Image Mini |
| Rank | #2 | #52 | GPT-5 Image Mini |
| Quality Rank | #2 | #52 | GPT-5 Image Mini |
| Adoption Rank | #2 | #52 | GPT-5 Image Mini |
| Parameters | -- | -- | -- |
| Context Window | 400K | 2000K | Grok 4.1 Fast |
| Pricing | $2.50/$2.00/M | $0.20/$0.50/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 100 | 100 | GPT-5 Image Mini |
| Benchmarks | 88 | 76 | GPT-5 Image Mini |
| Pricing | 98 | 100 | Grok 4.1 Fast |
| Context window size | 100 | 100 | GPT-5 Image Mini |
| Recency | 95 | 100 | Grok 4.1 Fast |
| Output Capacity | 100 | 75 | GPT-5 Image 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 89/100 (rank #2), placing it in the top 100% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 78/100 (rank #52), placing it in the top 82% of all 290 models tracked.
GPT-5 Image Mini has a 11-point advantage, which typically translates to noticeably better performance on complex reasoning, code generation, and multi-step tasks.
Grok 4.1 Fast offers 84% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $10.50/month with Grok 4.1 Fast vs $67.50/month with GPT-5 Image Mini - a $57.00 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. Grok 4.1 Fast also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (2000K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($0.50/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 Image Mini clearly outperforms Grok 4.1 Fast with a significant 11.200000000000003-point lead. For most general use cases, GPT-5 Image Mini is the stronger choice. However, Grok 4.1 Fast may still excel in niche scenarios.
Best for Quality
GPT-5 Image Mini
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
Grok 4.1 Fast
84% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
GPT-5 Image Mini
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
GPT-5 Image Mini
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
GPT-5 Image Mini
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by OpenAI
| Capability | GPT-5 Image Mini | Grok 4.1 Fast |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input) | ||
| Function Callingdiffers | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Web Search | ||
| Image Outputdiffers |
OpenAI
xAI
Grok 4.1 Fast saves you $5.94/month
That's 86% cheaper than GPT-5 Image 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-5 Image Mini | Grok 4.1 Fast |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 400K | 2M |
| Max Output Tokens | 128,000 | 30,000 |
| Open Source | No | No |
| Created | Oct 16, 2025 | Nov 19, 2025 |
The models are being evaluated in completely different categories - GPT-5 Image Mini ranks #1 of 14 in image generation while Grok 4.1 Fast appears to be misplaced at rank #0 in the coding category. Despite Grok 4.1 Fast having a 5x larger context window (2M vs 400K tokens), it lacks image output capabilities entirely, making it unsuitable for image generation tasks where GPT-5 Image Mini excels.
For pure text generation, Grok 4.1 Fast offers better economics with its 2M token context window at $0.5/M output cost. However, GPT-5 Image Mini's exclusive image output capability and higher 128K max output (vs 30K) makes the $2/M output pricing essential for any workflow requiring generated images alongside text responses.
GPT-5 Image Mini's 4.3x larger max output (128K vs 30K tokens) becomes critical for image generation tasks where pixel data and detailed descriptions consume tokens rapidly. While Grok 4.1 Fast's 30K limit suffices for most coding tasks, generating high-resolution images with accompanying analysis in GPT-5 Image Mini can easily exceed 50K tokens in a single response.
The 5x context window advantage (2M vs 400K) makes Grok 4.1 Fast superior for analyzing large codebases or documents at $0.2/M input cost. However, GPT-5 Image Mini's 400K context is already 10x larger than most conversations require, and its unique image generation capability at $2.5/M input cost targets entirely different use cases like creative workflows and visual AI applications.
The 100-point score gap reflects evaluation in non-overlapping domains - GPT-5 Image Mini leads image generation while Grok 4.1 Fast's 0/100 suggests either poor coding performance or miscategorization. With GPT-5 Image Mini costing 12.5x more for input ($2.5/M vs $0.2/M) but offering exclusive image output capabilities, these models serve fundamentally different markets rather than competing directly.