GPT-4.1 nano vs GPT-5.4

Pick GPT-5.4 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. GPT-4.1 nano only becomes the better choice if you want the cheaper token bill or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.

GPT-5.4 is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 89 to 27. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

GPT-5.4's sharpest advantage is in knowledge, where it averages 66.1 against 50.3. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is GPQA, 50.3% to 92.8%.

GPT-5.4 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $2.50 input / $15.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.10 input / $0.40 output per 1M tokens for GPT-4.1 nano. That is roughly 37.5x on output cost alone. GPT-5.4 is the reasoning model in the pair, while GPT-4.1 nano is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. GPT-5.4 gives you the larger context window at 1.05M, compared with 1M for GPT-4.1 nano.