# GPT-4o mini ![Organization](https://img.shields.io/badge/Org-OpenAI-412991) ![Context](https://img.shields.io/badge/Context-128K%20tokens-1f6feb) ![Pricing](https://img.shields.io/badge/Price-%240.15%20%2F%20%240.60%20per%201M-2da44e) ![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-Proprietary-d29922) ![Modality](https://img.shields.io/badge/Modality-Text%20%2B%20Vision-8957e5) ![Released](https://img.shields.io/badge/Released-Jul%202024-555) > **Quick answer:** GPT-4o mini is OpenAI's cost-efficient multimodal model, released July 18, 2024 (API: gpt-4o-mini-2024-07-18). It scores 27.5% on LiveCodeBench and supports text and vision input with a 128K-token context window. At $0.15/$0.60 per 1M tokens, it was the most affordable OpenAI model with vision capability at launch. ## At a Glance **Where GPT-4o mini leads** - $0.15/$0.60 per 1M tokens — highly cost-efficient for high-volume pipelines - Vision support at the mini tier — processes images without the cost of GPT-4o - 128K-token context window - Fast latency optimised for real-time applications - Strong instruction-following from the GPT-4o training lineage **Where it lags** - 27.5% LiveCodeBench — well below GPT-4.1 (not shown) and GPT-4o - Superseded by newer cost-tier models (GPT-5 mini, o4-mini) for most tasks - Knowledge cutoff October 2023 — outdated for time-sensitive queries - No reasoning/extended-thinking mode **Best for:** High-volume classification, content moderation, basic code completion, image captioning, and legacy integrations built on the GPT-4o mini API. ## What GPT-4o mini Is GPT-4o mini is the small-model tier of OpenAI's GPT-4o family. Released in July 2024 to replace GPT-3.5 Turbo as the default cost-efficient option, it introduced multimodal vision capability at a price point ($0.15/$0.60 per 1M) that made image-understanding accessible for high-volume production workloads. The model's architecture shares the same training approach as GPT-4o — instruction fine-tuning with RLHF — at reduced scale. This gives it GPT-4o-class instruction following and safety at lower capability ceiling and significantly lower cost and latency. While GPT-4o mini has largely been superseded by GPT-5 mini and o4-mini for new deployments (both offering better performance at similar or lower price), it remains widely used in existing integrations and is a stable, well-tested choice for teams that don't need updated knowledge or advanced reasoning. ## Specifications | Field | Value | |---|---| | Organization | OpenAI | | Parameters | Undisclosed | | Context window | 128,000 tokens | | Max output | 16,384 tokens | | API model ID | gpt-4o-mini-2024-07-18 | | License | Proprietary (API only) | | Release date | July 18, 2024 | | Knowledge cutoff | October 2023 | | Modality | Text + Vision (multimodal) | ## Pricing | | Input (per 1M tokens) | Output (per 1M tokens) | |---|---|---| | OpenAI API | $0.15 | $0.60 | Prompt caching provides a 50% discount on cached input. Pricing per [OpenAI pricing page](https://openai.com/api/pricing/). ## Context Window GPT-4o mini has a **128,000-token context window** — roughly **90 pages** of text, sufficient for most document-analysis and multi-turn conversation tasks. ## Public Benchmark Scores | Benchmark | Score | Source | Date | |---|---|---|---| | [LiveCodeBench](/benchmarks/livecodebench) | 27.5% | Benchgen evaluation | 2024-07 | *Additional well-known scores at launch (OpenAI technical report, July 2024): MMLU 82.0%, MATH 70.2%, HumanEval 87.2%.* ## GPT-4o mini vs Alternatives | Model | Context | LiveCodeBench | Price (in/out per 1M) | |---|---|---|---| | **GPT-4o mini** | 128K | 27.5% | $0.15 / $0.60 | | [GPT-5 mini](/models/openai/gpt-5-mini) | — | — | — | | [o4-mini](/models/openai/o4-mini) | 200K | 74.2% | $1.10 / $4.40 | | [Gemini 2.5 Flash](/models/google/gemini-2-5-flash) | 1M | 61.9% | $0.15 / $0.60 | | [Claude Haiku 3.5](/models/anthropic/claude-haiku-3-5) | 200K | — | $0.80 / $4 | At identical pricing to Gemini 2.5 Flash ($0.15/$0.60), GPT-4o mini offers a much smaller context window (128K vs 1M) and lower coding benchmark scores. For new cost-tier deployments, Gemini 2.5 Flash or GPT-5 mini are the recommended alternatives. ## Use GPT-4o mini via API ```python from openai import OpenAI client = OpenAI(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY") response = client.chat.completions.create( model="gpt-4o-mini", messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Classify this text as positive, negative, or neutral..."}], ) print(response.choices[0].message.content) ``` ## Related Models & Benchmarks - Compare: [GPT-4o](/models/openai/gpt-4o) · [GPT-5 mini](/models/openai/gpt-5-mini) · [Gemini 2.5 Flash](/models/google/gemini-2-5-flash) · [Claude Haiku 3.5](/models/anthropic/claude-haiku-3-5) - Benchmarks: [LiveCodeBench](/benchmarks/livecodebench) ## Frequently Asked Questions

What is GPT-4o mini?

GPT-4o mini is OpenAI's cost-efficient multimodal model (API: gpt-4o-mini-2024-07-18), released July 2024. It supports text and vision input at $0.15/$0.60 per 1M tokens with a 128K context window.

What is GPT-4o mini's context window?

GPT-4o mini supports a 128,000-token context window with up to 16,384 output tokens.

How much does GPT-4o mini cost?

GPT-4o mini costs $0.15 per 1M input tokens and $0.60 per 1M output tokens, with a 50% discount on cached input reads.

Is GPT-4o mini open source?

No. GPT-4o mini is a proprietary, API-only model. There are no open weights.

Should I use GPT-4o mini or GPT-5 mini?

For new deployments, GPT-5 mini is preferred as it offers substantially better performance with an updated knowledge cutoff. GPT-4o mini is appropriate for existing integrations where the stable API ID (gpt-4o-mini-2024-07-18) has been validated in production.

--- *Specs and scores sourced from OpenAI's official GPT-4o mini announcement (July 2024) and Benchgen evaluations. Pricing cited to the OpenAI pricing page. Last updated 2026-07-24.*

GPT-4o mini — Files