A once-groundbreaking model now badly outclassed by cheaper, faster, and more capable successors — only use it if you have no choice.
68
Coding
72
Writing
60
Research
0
Images
5
Value
8
Long Context
Use this when
Teams or workflows locked into the original GPT-4 API that require reliable, high-quality text reasoning without needing long context or multimodal input.
Skip this if
You're starting a new project, need to process long documents, want multimodal support, or are at all cost-sensitive — virtually every modern alternative is cheaper and more capable.
Pricing
$30.00/1M in
$60.00/1M out
→0%since May 2026
Context
8k tokens
Speed
Balanced
At $30/$60 per million tokens, this is one of the most expensive text-only models available. The 8,191-token context window is a hard ceiling that makes it unsuitable for most document-processing tasks. OpenAI continues to offer it for API backward compatibility but actively recommends migrating to GPT-4o or GPT-4 Turbo. New projects should not default to this model.
Strong instruction-following and nuanced reasoning for its era
Well-documented behavior and extensive community knowledge base
Consistent, predictable outputs suitable for structured workflows
Solid code generation and debugging for mainstream languages
Weaknesses
Severely limited 8K context window — can't handle long documents or codebases
Extremely expensive at $30/$60 per million tokens compared to GPT-4o ($5/$15) or Claude Sonnet 4.6, which offer better performance at a fraction of the cost
No native vision or multimodal capabilities in the base version
Real-world use cases
What people actually use GPT-4 for.
Refactoring a Python function with complex business logic where legacy API compatibility is required
Drafting a structured business report or executive summary from a short brief
Answering multi-step reasoning questions in a customer support automation pipeline built on the original GPT-4 API
How GPT-4 compares
The nearest models people weigh against it, and what actually separates them.
vs GPT-4 (older v0314) — Against GPT-4 (older v0314) (OpenAI), GPT-4 lands within a few percent on price. Which one wins depends on whether context depth or latency is your constraint.
vs GPT-4 Turbo — Against GPT-4 Turbo (OpenAI), GPT-4 costs about 56% more per token and gives up 15.6x on context. GPT-4 Turbo is the one to check first if the price difference matters more than the ceiling.
vs GPT-4 Turbo (older v1106) — Against GPT-4 Turbo (older v1106) (OpenAI), GPT-4 costs about 56% more per token and gives up 15.6x on context. GPT-4 Turbo (older v1106) is the one to check first if the price difference matters more than the ceiling.
Price History
GPT-4 pricing over time
→0% since May 30
90 data points · tracked daily since May 30, 2026
Ready to try it?
Start using GPT-4
Teams or workflows locked into the original GPT-4 API that require reliable, high-quality text reasoning without needing long context or multimodal input.. Start free — no card required.
GPT-4 v0314 is a frozen snapshot of the original GPT-4 release from March 2023, preserved for reproducibility and regression testing. It offers the same core reasoning capabilities as early GPT-4 but lacks all subsequent improvements, fine-tuning updates, and safety refinements.
Verdict
An expensive museum piece: only justified if you need this exact model snapshot for legacy reproducibility.
Quality score
40%
Pricing
$30.00/1M in
$60.00/1M out
Speed
Balanced
3/5 speed
Context
8k tokens
This is a frozen March 2023 snapshot of GPT-4, not a current model. OpenAI may deprecate legacy snapshots with limited notice. The 8,191-token context window is a hard constraint. Cost is identical to much more capable current models, making this a poor choice for new projects.
LegacyGPT-4Version-lockedResearchDeprecated
Best for
Reproducible research or legacy workflows that require consistent, version-locked GPT-4 outputs.
GPT-4 Turbo is OpenAI's high-capability flagship model featuring a 128K context window, trained on data up to April 2024. It delivers strong reasoning, coding, and instruction-following across complex tasks.
Verdict
A capable but aging flagship that has been outpaced by cheaper, faster successors in OpenAI's own lineup.
Quality score
75%
Pricing
$10.00/1M in
$30.00/1M out
Speed
Balanced
3/5 speed
Context
128k tokens
GPT-4 Turbo is available via the OpenAI API. It has largely been succeeded by GPT-4o, which is faster, supports vision natively, and is cheaper. Organizations should evaluate whether migrating to GPT-4o or o3 makes more sense before building new workflows on this model.
GPT-4 Turbo (v1106) is an older snapshot of OpenAI's flagship GPT-4 Turbo model released in November 2023, offering a 128K context window with strong general-purpose reasoning and instruction-following capabilities. It predates later GPT-4 Turbo updates and GPT-4o, making it a legacy choice for workflows locked to this specific version.
Verdict
A reliable but outdated GPT-4 snapshot that only makes sense when version pinning is a hard requirement.
Quality score
66%
Pricing
$10.00/1M in
$30.00/1M out
Speed
Balanced
3/5 speed
Context
128k tokens
This is a pinned model snapshot (v1106) and will not receive capability updates. OpenAI may deprecate older snapshots over time. Knowledge cutoff is April 2023. Not recommended for new deployments given the superior cost-performance of GPT-4o and GPT-4.1.
Legacy128K ContextPinned SnapshotGPT-4Premium
Best for
Teams requiring a pinned, stable version of GPT-4 Turbo for reproducible outputs in long-document analysis or complex instruction pipelines.
Pricing moves, ranking shifts, and capability updates.
New ModelMar 27, 2026
OpenAI: GPT-4 — added to UseRightAI
OpenAI: GPT-4 (OpenAI) is now indexed. A once-groundbreaking model now badly outclassed by cheaper, faster, and more capable successors — only use it if you have no choice.
GPT-4 costs $30 per million input tokens and $60 per million output tokens on the API. A month of 10M input and 2M output tokens runs about $420.00 at list price, before any batch or caching discounts.
What is GPT-4 best for?
GPT-4 is best for teams or workflows locked into the original gpt-4 api that require reliable, high-quality text reasoning without needing long context or multimodal input.. It is a strong fit when that workflow matters more than the tradeoffs around premium pricing and balanced speed.
When should I avoid GPT-4?
You're starting a new project, need to process long documents, want multimodal support, or are at all cost-sensitive — virtually every modern alternative is cheaper and more capable.
What is a cheaper alternative to GPT-4?
GPT-4 Turbo (OpenAI) at $10.00/1M/1M input against GPT-4's $30.00/1M/1M — roughly 56% less per token all in. A capable but aging flagship that has been outpaced by cheaper, faster successors in OpenAI's own lineup. Compare it first if GPT-4's pricing is the thing stopping you.
What is a faster alternative to GPT-4?
GPT-4 (older v0314) — balanced against GPT-4's balanced, with 8k tokens of context. Worth the swap when response time is what your users notice rather than the last few points of reasoning depth.
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