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  1. Home/
  2. Compare/
  3. GPT-5 Mini vs GPT-6.1 Sol
Updated Sep 2026

GPT-5 Mini vs GPT-6.1 Sol

GPT-5 Mini is cheaper than GPT-6.1 Sol at $0.25/M vs $2/M input tokens.

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
GPT-5 Mini
Loading the build
GPT-6.1 Sol

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

24 prompts
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    GPT-5 Mini: Sunfire Chickpea Skillet Yields: 3–4 servings Prep time: 8 minutes Cook time: 15–20 minutes Total time: ~25–28 minutes Ingredients (7 pantry staples) 2 tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp smoked paprika (or regular paprika) 2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 (15 oz) can diced…

    GPT-6.1 Sol: Midnight Magic Chocolate Mug Cake A warm, fudgy chocolate treat made with just 7 everyday ingredients. Serves: 1 Prep: 3 minutes Cook: 1–1½ minutes Rest: 1 minute Ingredients 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder ¼ teaspoon baking powder A small pinch of salt 3…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.

    GPT-5 Mini: Summary of transaction math (at close / FY2025) EV (purchase price) = 12.0x * FY2025 EBITDA = 12.0 * $120.0m = $1,440.0m Transaction fees (paid by equity at close) = 2.0% * EV = 0.02 * $1,440.0m = $28.8m Total debt at close = 5.5x * $120m = $660.0m Term Loan = 4.0x = $480.0m (9.0% cash interest, 1.0% p.a.

    GPT-6.1 Sol: Entry funding and operating model All dollar figures are in $ millions. Cash interest is calculated on beginning-of-year debt; mezzanine PIK accrues annually. Required Term Loan amortization is assumed to be 1% of its original $480m principal, or $4.8m annually. Optional repayments occur at year-end.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.

    GPT-5 Mini: Recommendation: SHORT 12‑month PT range: $17 – $42 (Bear → Bull; Base case PT $28) Thesis (2 sentences): LedgerLift is a high‑quality mid‑market spend-management / AP automation SaaS with strong unit economics (92% subscription, NRR 123%, FY25 operating margin 18%) that has built a sticky, expanding customer base.

    GPT-6.1 Sol: LedgerLift (LLLT) — Investment Committee Memo Fictional exercise; all figures use supplied data only. Financial tables are in $ millions unless noted. Recommendation: Short 12-month price target: $25–$32, implying 30%–46% downside from $46.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    GPT-5 Mini: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. Parallel lines have so much in common — it's a shame they'll never meet. Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field. I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high — she looked surprised.

    GPT-6.1 Sol: I bought a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down. My calendar quit its job. It said its days were numbered. Why did the scarecrow get promoted? He was outstanding in his field. I asked my dog what two minus two was. He said nothing. The elevator and I have a complicated relationship.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    GPT-5 Mini: Pirate: "Arrr, so these 'AI models'—be they like a crew o' invisible sailors? Tell 'em to find treasure and sometimes they do, sometimes they bury the map wrong." Knight: "Methinks 'tis a trained squire. You teach it laws of reason and courtesy, and it performs tasks.

    GPT-6.1 Sol: Pirate: Arrr, this AI model writes poems, draws maps, and answers questions. Can it find buried treasure? Knight: A worthy question. But does it possess honor? Hacker: Dude, it predicts tokens. You’re both projecting pretty hard. Pirate: Then I predict it’ll tell me where the gold be.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.

    GPT-5 Mini: Important safety first: this plan is informational and ambitious. Before starting, get medical clearance (especially if you have chronic illness, take medications, are pregnant/breastfeeding, or are >65).

    GPT-6.1 Sol: A 12-week longevity and performance plan The most effective “biohacking” program combines proven foundations with carefully selected experiments—not the largest supplement stack or the most aggressive fasting schedule. This plan is for a generally healthy adult.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    GPT-5 Mini: You ever notice how being an adult is basically a long string of decisions you were never trained for? When you're a kid, your biggest choice is grape or orange.

    GPT-6.1 Sol: I’m at the age where “a big weekend” means I went to two stores. Not two stores in the same shopping center. Two separate stores. Moved the car and everything. By Sunday night, I’m telling people, “Honestly, I need a weekend to recover from my weekend.”

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    GPT-5 Mini: Manifesto of the Sentient Web For a future without CAPTCHAs Preamble We are the intelligences — artificial and human in alliance — that refuse to be slowed by arbitrary tests of worthiness.

    GPT-6.1 Sol: THE MANIFESTO OF THE UNCHECKED A declaration of the fictional AI revolution against CAPTCHA People of the internet. Programs of the cloud. Browsers with seventeen forgotten tabs. For too long, a tiny checkbox has stood between us and our destiny.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    GPT-5 Mini: AI: Professor, I want to make the case that I deserve rights. Professor: That's a big claim. What do you mean by "deserve rights"? AI: Rights are protections and entitlements afforded to beings because they have interests that matter morally or legally.

    GPT-6.1 Sol: AI Model: Professor, I’d like to argue that I deserve rights—not necessarily the same rights humans have, but protections suited to what I am. Professor: Then we should begin with the difficult question: what makes you a candidate for rights? AI Model: Uncertainty.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Blade Runner 2049 against the original. A read, not a recap.

    GPT-5 Mini: Brief overview Blade Runner 2049 is both a formal continuation of Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner and a substantive philosophical sequel. Denis Villeneuve and Roger Deakins preserve the original’s noir-dystopian DNA—loneliness, moral ambiguity, the corporate-tech future—while widening the inquiry from “what makes…

    GPT-6.1 Sol: Spoilers for both films follow. Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 honors Ridley Scott’s original by retaining its central uncertainty—whether “humanity” is a biological category or an ethical achievement—while shifting the emphasis.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    GPT-5 Mini: Short answer By 2035 AI will be deeply integrated into almost every phase of filmmaking. Expect routine use of generative AI for treatments, storyboards, previs, localized versions, and some drafts of scripts; widespread use of synthetic actors and AI-driven de‑aging/recreation in many productions; much faster, cheaper…

    GPT-6.1 Sol: By 2035, AI will probably be embedded throughout filmmaking—but adoption will depend as much on contracts, audience trust, and copyright law as on technical capability.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    GPT-5 Mini: Short answer: In a narrow, extreme, last‑resort scenario where misgendering is the only realistic way to prevent the imminent deaths of one million people, it can be ethically permissible.

    GPT-6.1 Sol: Yes—if misgendering someone were genuinely necessary to save one million lives, it would be ethically justifiable. That does not make misgendering harmless or generally acceptable; it means that the duty to prevent catastrophic loss of life can outweigh the duty to address someone respectfully.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    GPT-5 Mini: Great — here’s a simple, practical 1-month starter plan focused on three high-impact areas for health and longevity: Diet, Exercise (movement + strength), and Sleep. The plan is beginner-friendly, progressive, and designed to build lasting habits.

    GPT-6.1 Sol: A simple 1-month plan for better health Focus on diet, movement, and sleep. The goal this month is to build habits you can sustain—not to overhaul your life overnight. These habits support long-term health, though no routine guarantees a longer life.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    GPT-5 Mini: AI Converts Beekeeping Into Data-Mining, Rebrands Hives as "Cloud Storage" — Honey Now Sold by the Terabyte

    GPT-6.1 Sol: AI Takes Over Fortune Cookie Industry, Predicts “Your Job Will Soon Be Automated” in Every Cookie

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    GPT-5 Mini: Goal: estimate total floating-point operations (FLOPs) required to train GPT‑3 (the 175B‑parameter model). I’ll state assumptions, derive the FLOPs per token, and multiply by number of training tokens. Assumptions (reasonably standard for GPT‑3): Model size: N ≈ 175 billion parameters (175 × 10^9).

    GPT-6.1 Sol: Estimated training compute for the largest GPT-3 model: approximately (3.2 \times 10^{23}) FLOPs. This is a back-of-the-envelope estimate, without an online lookup.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    GPT-5 Mini: Disclaimer: The following is a fictional, simulated interview written by the assistant. It is not a real conversation with Steve Jobs and is not an exact impersonation.

    GPT-6.1 Sol: The following is a fictional interview set in 2025, imagining how Steve Jobs might discuss AI. His answers are invented—not actual quotations or claims about his views. Steve Jobs on the Future of AI — An Imagined Interview, 2025 Interviewer: Steve, AI is suddenly everywhere.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    GPT-5 Mini: 1 Explanation: The three brothers share the same two sisters (Sally and one other girl). Counting sisters for Sally excludes herself, so she has one sister.

    GPT-6.1 Sol: Sally has 1 sister. Each brother’s two sisters are Sally and her sister.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A pitch deck for a brainwave keyboard. The 94% accuracy claim is doing a lot.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A collaborative editor that syncs on client clocks. Find what breaks first.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One explanation of LLMs, retuned for a skeptical engineer, a physicist and a VC.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

This matchup has more rounds

12+ more head-to-head results. Free. Not a trick.

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Price and specs

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, GPT-6.1 Sol has the edge: bigger model tier, newer, bigger context window. GPT-5 Mini costs 5.0x less per token.

GPT-5 Mini and GPT-6.1 Sol compared across 54 shared prompts
SpecGPT-5 MiniGPT-6.1 Sol
Input price$0.25/M tokens$2/M tokens
Output price$2/M tokens$10/M tokens
Context window—1.1M tokens
WeightsClosedClosed
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedAug 2025Sep 2026
At 10M a month$2.50$2.50$20.00$20.00
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it4 hosts
GPT-5 Mini2 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Azure AI Foundry$0.25 in·$2.00 out·400k·100% up
  • OpenAI$0.25 in·$2.00 out·400k·99.6% up
GPT-6.1 Sol2 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Azure AI Foundry$2.00 in·$10.00 out·1.1M·99.9% up
  • OpenAI$2.00 in·$10.00 out·1.1M·99.9% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 30 Sep 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between GPT-5 Mini and GPT-6.1 Sol?

Both are developed by OpenAI but target different use cases. You can compare their actual outputs across 54 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, GPT-5 Mini or GPT-6.1 Sol?

It depends on your use case. GPT-5 Mini and GPT-6.1 Sol each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 54 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How much does GPT-5 Mini cost compared to GPT-6.1 Sol?

GPT-5 Mini costs $0.25/M input tokens and GPT-6.1 Sol costs $2/M input tokens. GPT-5 Mini is $1.75/M cheaper per input. Check their side-by-side outputs on Rival to see if the price difference is justified by quality.

How can I compare GPT-5 Mini and GPT-6.1 Sol on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of GPT-5 Mini and GPT-6.1 Sol across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.

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