Model vs Model · Budget tier
Claude Haiku 4.5 vs GPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini is 2.5× cheaper on input, 3× cheaper on output.
Verdict
GPT-4.1 mini at $0.4 input / $1.6 output is significantly cheaper than Claude Haiku 4.5 at $1 / $5. For high-volume classification, extraction, or routing tasks, GPT-4.1 mini is the clear cost winner. Use Claude Haiku if you specifically need Anthropic's output style or are already on an Anthropic-first stack.
API pricing — March 2026
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | GPT-4.1 mini | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price /1M tokens | $1 | $0.4 |
| Output price /1M tokens | $5 | $1.6 |
| Context window | 200k tokens | 1M tokens |
| Batch discount | 50% off | 50% off |
| At 100M input tokens | $100 | $40 |
| At 100M output tokens | $500 | $160 |
Real-world cost at scale
High-volume classification pipeline
Classifying 1M short documents per month. ~500M input tokens, 50M output tokens.
Claude Haiku 4.5
$750
500M in + 50M out tokens
GPT-4.1 mini
$280
500M in + 50M out tokens
When to choose each
Claude Haiku 4.5
Already using Anthropic stack
Need 200k context occasionally
Specific Anthropic output quality needed
Routing complex tasks to Haiku first
GPT-4.1 mini
Cost is primary concern
High-volume classification or extraction
1M context window needed
General-purpose budget tasks
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Prices updated daily · Last fetch: Mar 26, 2026
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