--- title: "OpenAI: GPT-5 Mini — price, capability and what beats it · Undominated.ai" canonical: https://undominated.ai/models/openai__gpt-5-mini/ description: "OpenAI: GPT-5 Mini: $0.250/M in, $2.00/M out. Independent capability scores, and alternatives compared under recorded workload and capability requirements." --- # OpenAI: GPT-5 Mini — price, capability and what beats it · Undominated.ai > OpenAI: GPT-5 Mini: $0.250/M in, $2.00/M out. Independent capability scores, and alternatives compared under recorded workload and capability requirements. [Check base rates for this workload](/check/openai__gpt-5-mini/) [Cheaper alternatives](/alternatives/openai__gpt-5-mini/) [Family](/families/gpt-5/) [Compare models](https://undominated.ai/compare/?models=openai%2Fgpt-5-mini) Comparison context Choose up to three standard models in Compare. Requirements and prompt length apply in Compare. This page keeps its stated price basis and workload controls. MODEL PROOF # GPT-5 Mini OpenAI · 07 Aug 2025 · proprietary Balanced Summarise Chat Code gen Agentic BETTER VALUE OPTION ## A stored alternative has an equal-or-higher measured score and an equal-or-lower price. **$0.688** / 1M tokens Balanced · 3 tokens in per 1 out [GPT-5.6 Luna](/models/openai__gpt-5.6-luna/) · Δ score 57.8 points · 35% lower measured price · $0.450 / 1M tokens [MiMo-V2.6-Pro](/models/xiaomi__mimo-v2.6-pro/) is a further stored option with these losses: no file input Evidence as of 06 Oct 2026 [openrouter/models](https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/models) [Vendor cross-check](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing) [LMArena · cc-by-4.0](https://huggingface.co/datasets/lmarena-ai/leaderboard-dataset) Independent LMArena score 1,373.2 ± 4.56 · 26,638 votes Context window 400K Maximum output 128K Input modalities text, image, file Output modalities text Published input price $0.250 / 1M tokens Published output price $2.00 / 1M tokens Pricing kind fixed Inspect [complete billing conditions](#billing-details) and endpoint terms below. Price from OpenAI: the cheapest offer that is serving, at standard delivery and at the maker’s precision or better, at its standard rate. Cheaper right now: $0.344/M at OpenAI — delivery tier (flex) It does not pass the like-for-like test, so it never sets a rank. Every price dimension · USD per million tokens | Input | $0.250 /M | | --- | --- | | Output | $2.00 /M | | Cached input | $0.025 /M | | Cache write | Unknown /M | | Cache write 1h | Unknown /M | | Reasoning | Unknown /M | | Web search | $0.01 /call | | Batch discount | 50% | ### Who sells it The same weights, different shops. Cheapest is not like-for-like when serving precision differs. 4 provider offers · rates, limits and conditions Rates are USD per million tokens. Endpoint terms can differ even when the quoted price and precision match. A listed parameter is a provider declaration, not a task-success test. | Seller | Input | Output | Precision | Uptime (1d) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Seller OpenAI openai/flex Endpoint terms Cached input /M $0.013 Context limit 400,000 tokens Output limit 128,000 tokens Tools Listed by endpoint Reasoning Listed by endpoint Promotional discount None reported Uptime · last 30 minutes 100.00% | Input $0.125 | Output $1.00 | Precision undeclared | Uptime (1d) 100.00% | | Seller Azure azure Endpoint terms Cached input /M $0.030 Context limit 400,000 tokens Output limit 360,000 tokens Tools Listed by endpoint Reasoning Listed by endpoint Promotional discount None reported Uptime · last 30 minutes 99.76% | Input $0.250 | Output $2.00 | Precision undeclared | Uptime (1d) 99.87% | | Seller OpenAI openai Endpoint terms Cached input /M $0.025 Context limit 400,000 tokens Output limit 128,000 tokens Tools Listed by endpoint Reasoning Listed by endpoint Promotional discount None reported Uptime · last 30 minutes 99.95% | Input $0.250 | Output $2.00 | Precision undeclared | Uptime (1d) 99.98% | | Seller Azure azure/swedencentral Endpoint terms Cached input /M $0.033 Context limit 400,000 tokens Output limit 360,000 tokens Tools Listed by endpoint Reasoning Listed by endpoint Promotional discount None reported Uptime · last 30 minutes Unknown | Input $0.275 | Output $2.20 | Precision undeclared | Uptime (1d) 100.00% | ### Independent scores | LMArena Elo | 1373.2 high | | --- | --- | LMArena Elo under CC BY 4.0. Absence of another board is not a score of zero. #### Best rankings by task - ASCII art #52 1134 - SVG #61 1090 - Game development #76 1142 - Data visualisation #82 1137 - UI components #83 1113 - Websites #88 1132 - Code categories #88 1119 - 3D #97 1045 Per-task Elo and rank from [Design Arena](https://designarena.ai), via OpenRouter’s model feed. The rank is the feed’s, and it counts models OpenRouter does not list. ### Capability | Context window | 400K | | --- | --- | | Max output | 128K | | Input modes | text, image, file | | Tool use | yes | | Reasoning | always on | | Knowledge cutoff | 2024-05-31 | | Open weights | no | ### Provenance | Price source | [openrouter.ai](https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/models) | | --- | --- | | Fetched | 2026-10-06 | | Quality data | verified | | Cross-checked | [vendor page](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing) | GPT-5 Mini is a compact version of GPT-5, designed to handle lighter-weight reasoning tasks. It provides the same instruction-following and safety-tuning benefits as GPT-5, but with reduced latency and cost.... ## Questions this page answers What does GPT-5 Mini cost? $0.250/M in, $2.00/M out in this catalogue, as of the fetch date on this page. That is the API row, not a subscription. Does GPT-5 Mini have an independent quality score? GPT-5 Mini has an LMArena score in this catalogue. What beats GPT-5 Mini? GPT-5.6 Luna has an equal-or-higher measured score and an equal-or-lower price. Does this page use Artificial Analysis scores for GPT-5 Mini? No. Artificial Analysis figures are not published here. Quality on this page is LMArena Elo where a score exists; otherwise the row is unrated. MODEL MONUMENT ## Save or share this proof Download proof card · 1200 × 630 Preview and more sharing options OpenAI: GPT-5 Mini. Balanced workload. Better value option available. Evidence as of 06 Oct 2026. Copy model link Download square card · 1080 × 1080 Copy landscape image Share landscape card ## Related - Both better and cheaper [GPT-5.6 Luna](/models/openai__gpt-5.6-luna/) - Higher score and cheaper, with a named trade [MiMo-V2.6-Pro](/models/xiaomi__mimo-v2.6-pro/) - Nearby on the capability axis [DeepSeek V3 0324](/models/deepseek__deepseek-chat-v3-0324/) - Same vendor [o1](/models/openai__o1/) - OpenAI models [OpenAI](/providers/openai/) - Where this model appears [effort](/effort/) - Nearby on the capability axis [R1](/models/deepseek__deepseek-r1/) - Same vendor [gpt-oss-120b](/models/openai__gpt-oss-120b/) - Where this model appears [spreads](/spreads/) - Nearby on the capability axis [GPT-5.4 Nano](/models/openai__gpt-5.4-nano/) - Same vendor [GPT-4.1](/models/openai__gpt-4.1/) - Where this model appears [significance](/significance/) ## Badge The verdict as one SVG, for a README or a docs page. It states this model's dominance status at the balanced workload on the LMArena lens, with the date it was computed, and it is rebuilt with the catalogue — so it changes when the verdict changes, including to one you would rather it did not. Markdown Copy [![GPT-5 Mini — Undominated.ai dominance verdict](https://undominated.ai/badge/openai__gpt-5-mini.svg)](https://undominated.ai/models/openai__gpt-5-mini/) HTML Copy GPT-5 Mini — Undominated.ai dominance verdict Direct file: [https://undominated.ai/badge/openai__gpt-5-mini.svg](https://undominated.ai/badge/openai__gpt-5-mini.svg) — a static SVG, written by scripts/build-badges.mjs on every build, so the copy you embed is never older than the last deploy. ## Continue your investigation - [Explore model families](/families/) - [Compare a shortlist](/compare/) - [Check a model](/check/) - [Understand the evidence](/methodology/)