GPT-4o vs GPT-5 mini
Benchmarks, API pricing and specs, head to head. Data updated 2026-06-10.
GPT-4o
OpenAI · May 2024
The 2024 omni-modal classic with native audio in and out; superseded at the frontier but still everywhere in production.
GPT-5 mini
OpenAI · Aug 2025
A fast, cheap distillation of GPT-5 for high-volume workloads — one fifth of the flagship's price with most of its everyday capability.
The verdict
GPT-5 mini wins 2 of the 2 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for GPT-4o. On price the gap is dramatic: GPT-5 mini works out roughly 6.4x cheaper per blended million tokens. GPT-5 mini also takes 400K of context versus 128K for GPT-4o.
Benchmark head-to-head 0–2
Specs & pricing
| GPT-4o | GPT-5 mini | |
|---|---|---|
| modhub Index | — | — |
| Input price / 1M | $2.5 | $0.25 |
| Output price / 1M | $10 | $2 |
| Context window | 128K | 400K |
| Max output | 16K | 128K |
| Open weights | no | no |
| Reasoning model | no | yes |
| Multimodal input | text, image, audio | text, image |
| Knowledge cutoff | Oct 2023 | May 2024 |
| Released | May 2024 | Aug 2025 |
| Example monthly cost* | $40.00 | $5.50 |
* 10M input + 1.5M output tokens per month at list prices, no caching. Green = better value on that row.
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better, GPT-4o or GPT-5 mini?
- GPT-5 mini wins 2 of the 2 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for GPT-4o. On price the gap is dramatic: GPT-5 mini works out roughly 6.4x cheaper per blended million tokens. GPT-5 mini also takes 400K of context versus 128K for GPT-4o.
- Which is cheaper, GPT-4o or GPT-5 mini?
- GPT-4o costs $2.5/$10 per million input/output tokens, while GPT-5 mini costs $0.25/$2. For a typical workload of 10M input and 1.5M output tokens per month, that's $40.00 versus $5.50.
- Which model is better for coding, GPT-4o or GPT-5 mini?
- On SWE-bench Verified — the standard agentic-coding benchmark — GPT-5 mini scores ~71% versus 33.2% for GPT-4o, making GPT-5 mini the stronger pick for coding agents.