Best GPT-4.1 alternatives
Users often look for alternatives to GPT-4.1 to achieve higher intelligence scores, faster output speeds, or lower costs while retaining strong multimodal capabilities. This list covers seven other proprietary multimodal models with details on their performance metrics and trade-offs.
Grok 4.3 offers a higher intelligence_index of 43.9 compared to GPT-4.1's 26.3 and a lower output_price of $2.5 /1M versus $8 /1M, with a similar 1M-token context, though its vision capabilities are noted as less mature.
GPT-5 Codex provides a higher intelligence_index of 44.6 and faster output_speed of 149.9 t/s than GPT-4.1, but at a higher output_price of $10 /1M and reduced context of 400000 tokens.
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite delivers much higher output_speed at 310.24 t/s and lower output_price of $1.5 /1M than GPT-4.1 while matching the large context window, though it has reduced depth on complex reasoning.
Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent supports a larger context of 2000000 tokens than GPT-4.1 and handles text, images, and files natively with multi-agent coordination, but lacks specified intelligence_index or speed metrics.
GPT-5.1-Codex achieves a higher intelligence_index of 43.1 and faster output_speed of 178.06 t/s than GPT-4.1 at $10 /1M output_price, with strong integration of visual context for coding tasks but limited to 400000 context tokens.
GPT Chat Latest handles text, image, and file inputs seamlessly like GPT-4.1 but at a much higher output_price of $30 /1M with unspecified intelligence_index, offering natural multi-turn dialogue on extended documents.
GPT-5.2 Pro manages images, text, and files over a 400000-token context similar to GPT-4.1 with strong multimodal integration, though at a significantly higher output_price of $168 /1M and unspecified intelligence_index.
OpenAI's multimodal model for large-scale image, text, and file processing.
Frequently asked questions
GPT-5 Codex is the strongest by intelligence_index at 44.6, followed closely by Grok 4.3 at 43.9.