o4 Mini
OpenAI · released Apr 16, 2025
- Type
- Closed
- Input
- $1.10
- Output
- $4.40
- Cached
- $0.28
List price · per 1M tokens · OpenAI at 200K context · machine-readable source ↗
Our take
Written Sep 30, 2026o4 Mini is a hosted-only OpenAI model, so using it means choosing a host rather than downloading anything. Its measured quality sits in the lower half of the field on the human-preference boards, with one standout result on set-piece competitive programming problems.
Reach for it on set-piece competitive programming problems, where it placed 3rd of 16 on LiveCodeBench via Medium as of 28 Sep 2026, or when a single request needs to carry text, images and files together. Both hosts we list charge the same rate, so the host choice does not change the bill. Skip it if you need fixes landed in an existing codebase without review, or if you need a model you can run on your own machine.
The case for it
- 3rd of 16 on LiveCodeBench via Medium as of 28 Sep 2026, a board that measures pass rates on contamination-free competitive programming problems rather than fixing issues in an existing project.
- Text, images and files go into one request, and the request capacity is large enough that long documents need not be split up first.
- Both hosts we list charge the same rate, so the host choice does not change the bill.
The case against it
- Lower half of the field on the human-preference boards: 103rd of 168 on Arena Text (overall) as of 25 Sep 2026, and 109th of 168 on Arena Creative Writing as of 25 Sep 2026.
- 28th of 42 on SWE-bench Verified via mini-SWE-agent as of 19 Feb 2026, a result for the model inside that harness on real GitHub issues.
- We list no download for it, so using it means choosing a host, and the parameter count is not published.
How good is it?
EverydayGeneral questions and everyday reasoning
Arena Text (overall)103rd of 168 · 1391
CodingWriting and fixing code on its own
Arena Coding106th of 168 · 1433
AgenticPlanning, calling tools, staying on task
Not yet scored on Arena Agent. It is on SWE-bench Verified, in 28th of 42 with 45.
WritingDrafting and rewriting prose
Arena Creative Writing109th of 168 · 1337
Arena Creative Writing is the only board that has scored it for this.
These tests check whether a model follows instructions — a precondition for all the work above, but not a measure of how well that work is done.
Every published score for this model8 scoresEvery figure we hold, from 8 boards, with who ran it and a link to the source — including the boards no rating above is built on.
Where to rent it
Prices checked 4 hours ago — each listing carries its own date.
OpenAI, direct
The lab is also the cheapest we hold. The strip above and this offer are the same one, so nothing on this page undercuts OpenAI on 200K of context.
- per 1M tokens
- $1.10 in / $4.40 out
- Context served
- 200K
- Throughput
- ~103 tok/s
| Provider | In / out per 1M tokens | Context | Throughput | Trains on prompts | Logs prompts | Zero retention |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenRouterOpenRouter's own listing | $1.10 / $4.40checked 4 hours ago | 200K | not measured | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| OpenAIDirect | $1.10 / $4.40checked 4 hours ago | 200K100K max reply | 103 tok/s | No | Yesunknown period | Unknown |
OpenRouterAcross the 2 listings we hold: 1 says it does not train on prompts, 0 say they do and 1 does not say. 0 appear in the zero-retention registry we check; the rest are unknown to us.
What each host's API supports
From the parameter list each endpoint publishes. Streaming is omitted: nothing we hold reports it, for any model.
| Provider | Tool calling | JSON output | Strict schema |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenRouterOpenRouter's own listing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| OpenAIDirect | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Tool calling: 2 of 2 listings say yes. JSON output: 2 of 2 listings say yes. Strict schema: 2 of 2 listings say yes.
Models people weigh against o4 Mini
When we formed this view
Recent changes
What moved
first indexed by our pipelineEach date is the day we first saw the change, or the day the maker announced it.
What we do not know about this model yet
- Nothing we hold says whether an endpoint streams, so we do not show it either way.
- 1 of 2 listings does not say whether it trains on prompts.
- We hold no batch or off-peak rate for any of its listings.
Licence and identifiers
What the licence allowsWe hold no licence record for this model. Inside are the identifiers you need to pull it — its Hugging Face repo where we have one, our slug and a machine-readable card.
Licence
We hold no licence record for this model, and no record of published weights either — so we can neither summarise its terms nor point you at the weights.
Identifiers
- Takes in, gives back
- Text, images and documents in, text out
- Catalogue slug
- openai-o4-mini