Leaderboard · Model · Updated
GPT-5 mini
Smaller, cheaper GPT-5 variant tuned for high-throughput production workloads.
At a glance
| Provider | OpenAI |
|---|---|
| Released | 2025-08 |
| Tier | fast / cheap |
| License | Closed / proprietary |
| Modalities | text, image |
| Context window | 400k tokens |
| Max output | 128k tokens |
| API price · input | $0.25 / 1M tokens |
| API price · output | $2.00 / 1M tokens |
Benchmark performance
How GPT-5 mini stacks up against the current leader (GPT-5) and the median model in the leaderboard:
| Benchmark | GPT-5 mini | GPT-5 | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chatbot Arena Elo | 1370 | 1410 | 1320 |
| MMLU-Pro | 80.1 | 86.8 | 78.0 |
| GPQA Diamond | 75.0 | 87.3 | 65.0 |
| MATH | 91.0 | 96.7 | 78.3 |
| HumanEval | 90.5 | 95.1 | 92.0 |
| SWE-Bench Verified | 60.5 | 74.9 | 49.0 |
Numbers compiled from provider technical reports and Chatbot Arena. See methodology for the composite-score formula.
OpenRouter routes your requests across GPT-5 mini, GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, and 100+ other models behind a single API key — pay-as-you-go, no monthly minimum. Try OpenRouter → (affiliate · supports this site)
What does GPT-5 mini cost in practice?
API pricing is $0.25 per 1M input tokens and $2.00 per 1M output tokens. Assuming a 50/50 input/output split, here is what that looks like at three workload sizes:
| Volume | Per day | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1M tokens/day | $1.13 | $33.75 | $410.63 |
| 10M tokens/day | $11.25 | $337.50 | $4,106 |
| 100M tokens/day | $112.50 | $3,375 | $41,063 |
Strengths & weaknesses
Where it shines
No clear top-tier strengths — this is a mid-pack model.
Where it lags
No clear weaknesses across published benchmarks.
Best alternatives
The closest models to GPT-5 mini by tier and benchmark score:
| Model | Score | $ in / out | Context | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 2.5 Flash |
73.3 | $0.30 / $2.50 | 1M | Try → · vs GPT-5 |
| o3-mini OpenAI |
72.7 | $1.10 / $4.40 | 200k | Try → · vs GPT-5 |
| Gemini 2.0 Flash |
65.6 | $0.10 / $0.40 | 1M | Try → · vs GPT-5 |
| GPT-4o mini OpenAI |
61.3 | $0.15 / $0.60 | 128k | Try → · vs GPT-5 |
| Claude 3.5 Haiku Anthropic |
56.2 | $0.80 / $4.00 | 200k | Try → · vs GPT-5 |
Frequently asked questions
Is GPT-5 mini a good model?
GPT-5 mini scores 77.0 on the llmrank.top composite (rank #8 of 30). It is competitive with the leaders (GPT-5 tops the board at 86.0). Whether it's the right fit depends on your workload — see the use-case discussion on this page.
How much does GPT-5 mini cost?
GPT-5 mini is priced at $0.25 per 1M input tokens and $2.00 per 1M output tokens (USD). For a 10M-token-per-day workload split 50/50, that works out to roughly $11.25/day or $4,106/year.
What is GPT-5 mini's context window?
400k tokens. That covers most multi-document workloads.
Is GPT-5 mini open source?
No — it is a closed (proprietary) model accessed only via the provider API.
What is GPT-5 mini's SWE-Bench score?
GPT-5 mini scores 60.5% on SWE-Bench Verified — the benchmark that measures real-world GitHub issue resolution. Its Chatbot Arena Elo is 1370.
What are the best alternatives to GPT-5 mini?
Closest alternatives by tier and score: Gemini 2.5 Flash, o3-mini, Gemini 2.0 Flash. See the alternatives section on this page for side-by-side numbers.
Related: Gemini 2.5 Flash · o3-mini · Gemini 2.0 Flash · Full leaderboard
Spotted out-of-date numbers? Open an issue — corrections usually ship within 24h.
Try GPT-5 mini now
Direct link to the official playground — or use OpenRouter to A/B test it against any other model on a single API key.