o4-mini vs GPT-5.4 Mini: reasoning vs standard speed utility costs
o4-mini is highly competitive, offering advanced multi-step reasoning at cheaper standard input/output base rates than GPT-5.4 Mini. Use GPT-5.4 Mini when 90% prompt caching on large repetitive context windows drops its cost lower.
Reasoning capabilities versus standard speed-optimized utility.
OpenAI's o4-mini brings native, fast reasoning capabilities to small-scale models. GPT-5.4 Mini focuses on standard rapid instruction following. Deciding between them involves comparing reasoning-compute pricing.
By TechCompare · Updated
Cost Comparison
Based on 100,000 input tokens (50% cached), 5,000 output tokens, and 100 requests.Prices are fetched live from OpenRouter and may include temporary promotional discounts not accounted for in our article and comparison figures.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | o4-mini | GPT-5.4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Input Cost (per M) | $0.55 (better on this spec) | $0.75 |
| Output Cost (per M) | $2.20 (better on this spec) | $4.50 |
| Cached Input (per M) | $0.1375 | $0.075 (better on this spec) |
| Batch Discount | 50% | 50% |
How they differ
o4-mini costs $0.55 per million input tokens and $2.20 per million output tokens, with a 75% caching discount. GPT-5.4 Mini costs $0.75 per million input and $4.50 per million output, with a 90% caching discount.
Verdict
o4-mini wins the base rows handily: $0.55/M input against $0.75 and $2.20/M output against $4.50. The crossover is cached input, where its 75% discount bottoms at $0.1375/M versus GPT-5.4 Mini's 90%-discounted $0.075/M, so above ~75% prompt reuse Mini overtakes on the input bill. Batch ties at 50% on both and preserves the base ranking. The capability edge goes to o4-mini for native multi-step reasoning at this tier.
Which should you pick?
Choose o4-mini
Math, coding, and multi-step reasoning tasks on a budget.
Choose GPT-5.4 Mini
Low-latency chat applications with highly static prompt caching.