API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥GPT-4o-mini vs Claude Opus 4.5

Pick GPT-4o-mini for lower cost; pick Claude Opus 4.5 only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated:  Data confirmed:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick GPT-4o-mini for lower cost; pick Claude Opus 4.5 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-4o-mini is estimated at $0.45 vs $17.5 for Claude Opus 4.5, saving $17.05 (97.4% lower).

Cost-first pickGPT-4o-mini
Context-first pickClaude Opus 4.5
Sample savings$17.0597.4%
10x traffic gap$170.5

Claude Opus 4.5 has more context, but GPT-4o-mini saves $17.05 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $170.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

GPT-4o-mini stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickGPT-4o-miniClaude Opus 4.5
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputGPT-4o-mini$1.05$37.5
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputGPT-4o-mini$0.75$30
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputGPT-4o-mini$3.15$130
Cheaper input GPT-4o-mini $0.15 vs $5 / 1M

GPT-4o-mini is $4.85 cheaper per 1M input tokens (97% lower; 33.3x difference).

Cheaper output GPT-4o-mini $0.6 vs $25 / 1M

GPT-4o-mini is $24.4 cheaper per 1M output tokens (97.6% lower; 41.7x difference).

Larger context Claude Opus 4.5 128K vs 200K

Claude Opus 4.5 has 72K more context (1.56x larger).

Sample workload GPT-4o-mini $0.45 vs $17.5

GPT-4o-mini is $17.05 cheaper on the standard workload (97.4% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
GPT-4o-mini Calculating… Estimated API cost
Claude Opus 4.5 Calculating… Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

GPT-4o-mini has the lower input price; GPT-4o-mini has the lower output price; Claude Opus 4.5 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, GPT-4o-mini is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.45 for GPT-4o-mini and $17.5 for Claude Opus 4.5.

Best Fit

Choose GPT-4o-mini when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose Claude Opus 4.5 when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-4o-mini is estimated at $0.45 vs $17.5 for Claude Opus 4.5, saving $17.05 (97.4% lower).
  • GPT-4o-mini is $17.05 cheaper on the standard workload (97.4% lower).
  • GPT-4o-mini is $4.85 cheaper per 1M input tokens (97% lower; 33.3x difference).
  • GPT-4o-mini is $24.4 cheaper per 1M output tokens (97.6% lower; 41.7x difference).
  • Claude Opus 4.5 has 72K more context (1.56x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
Feature🔥GPT-4o-mini
(OpenAI)		Claude Opus 4.5
(Anthropic)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0.15$5
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$0.6$25
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$0.45$17.5
Context Window128K200K
Release Date
Popularity#16

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionGPT-4o-miniOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-4o-mini is estimated at $0.45 vs $17.5 for Claude Opus 4.5, saving $17.05 (97.4% lower).
High-volume input processingGPT-4o-miniLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsGPT-4o-miniLower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workClaude Opus 4.5A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT-4o-mini when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-4o-mini when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-4o-mini when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
  • gpt-oss-120b can replace GPT-4o-mini when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.13.
Larger context near this budget
  • Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
  • GPT-5.5 offers 1.05M context with $20 sample workload cost.

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Open cheapest models

Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

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OpenAI catalog

Review all tracked OpenAI models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

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Anthropic catalog

Check other Anthropic models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Anthropic models
GPT-4o-mini

GPT-4o mini is OpenAI's newest model after [GPT-4 Omni](/models/openai/gpt-4o), supporting both text and image inputs with text outputs. As their most advanced small model, it is many multiples more affordable...

Claude Opus 4.5

Claude Opus 4.5 is Anthropic’s frontier reasoning model optimized for complex software engineering, agentic workflows, and long-horizon computer use. It offers strong multimodal capabilities, competitive performance across real-world coding and...