The fastest and cheapest way into the GPT-5 ecosystem, built for scale rather than depth.
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Coding
65
Writing
55
Research
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Images
88
Value
78
Long Context
Use this when
High-volume, latency-sensitive applications like classification, autocomplete, summarization, and lightweight chat where cost-per-token matters most.
Skip this if
Avoid if your task requires complex reasoning, detailed code generation, or nuanced writing — GPT-5 Mini or full GPT-5 will deliver meaningfully better results worth the cost premium.
Pricing
$0.05/1M in
$0.40/1M out
↑0%since May 2026
Context
400k tokens
Speed
Very fast
GPT-5 Nanospecs & pricing
Verified Sep 4, 2026 against the AI Gateway catalog
Output cost of ~$0.40/1M tokens means output-heavy workloads (long generations) will accumulate cost faster than input-heavy ones. Best suited for tasks where outputs are short-to-medium length. No image generation capability.
Extremely low input cost at $0.05/1M tokens — among the cheapest in OpenAI's lineup
400K context window is substantial for a budget model, rivaling much pricier options
Fast inference speed suitable for real-time and high-throughput production workloads
Backed by GPT-5 architecture improvements over GPT-4o despite the smaller footprint
Weaknesses
Significantly trails GPT-5 and GPT-5 Mini on complex reasoning, multi-step logic, and nuanced instruction-following
Output cost of $0.40/1M tokens is less competitive relative to rivals like Gemini Flash 2.5 or Claude Haiku 3.5
Not suitable for tasks requiring deep domain expertise, advanced coding, or long-form analytical writing
Real-world use cases
What people actually use GPT-5 Nano for.
Classifying thousands of customer support tickets into categories in real time
Generating short product descriptions or email subject line variations at scale
Summarizing long documents or transcripts using the 400K context window affordably
How GPT-5 Nano compares
The nearest models people weigh against it, and what actually separates them.
vs GPT-4.1 Mini — Against GPT-4.1 Mini (OpenAI), GPT-5 Nano runs about 78% cheaper per token and gives up 2.6x on context. Take GPT-5 Nano unless you specifically need what GPT-4.1 Mini does better.
vs GPT-4.1 Nano — Against GPT-4.1 Nano (OpenAI), GPT-5 Nano runs about 10% cheaper per token and gives up 2.6x on context. Take GPT-5 Nano unless you specifically need what GPT-4.1 Nano does better.
vs GPT-5 Mini — Against GPT-5 Mini (OpenAI), GPT-5 Nano runs about 80% cheaper per token. Take GPT-5 Nano unless you specifically need what GPT-5 Mini does better.
Price History
GPT-5 Nano pricing over time
↑0% since May 9
88 data points · tracked daily since May 9, 2026
Ready to try it?
Start using GPT-5 Nano
High-volume, latency-sensitive applications like classification, autocomplete, summarization, and lightweight chat where cost-per-token matters most.. Start free — no card required.
GPT-4.1 Mini is OpenAI's cost-optimized small model from the GPT-4.1 family, designed to deliver strong instruction-following and coding performance at a fraction of flagship pricing. It targets high-volume, latency-sensitive applications where cost efficiency matters more than peak capability.
Verdict
The go-to budget workhorse for high-volume OpenAI API users who need GPT-4.1 quality at GPT-3.5 prices.
Quality score
65%
Pricing
$0.40/1M in
$1.60/1M out
Speed
Very fast
5/5 speed
Context
1.0M tokens
Pricing shown is $0.40 input / $1.60 output per 1M tokens. Cached input tokens are significantly cheaper. The 1M token context window is a standout feature at this price tier — few competitors match it. Supersedes GPT-4o as the recommended default for cost-conscious applications.
BudgetFastLong ContextOpenAIProduction
Best for
High-volume production workloads that need reliable GPT-4-class instruction following without flagship pricing.
GPT-4.1 Nano is OpenAI's smallest and most cost-efficient model in the GPT-4.1 family, designed for high-throughput, latency-sensitive tasks at near-commodity pricing. It offers a 1M token context window at just $0.10/1M input tokens, making it one of the cheapest large-context models available.
Verdict
The best pick for budget-conscious, high-volume workloads that don't demand frontier intelligence.
Quality score
54%
Pricing
$0.10/1M in
$0.40/1M out
Speed
Very fast
5/5 speed
Context
1.0M tokens
Pricing is $0.10/1M input and $0.40/1M output tokens. Officially supersedes GPT-4o in OpenAI's lineup for lightweight use cases. Context window of ~1.047M tokens is one of the largest available at this price tier.
BudgetFastLong ContextHigh VolumeOpenAI
Best for
High-volume production workloads like classification, extraction, summarization, and simple Q&A where cost and speed matter more than frontier reasoning.
GPT-5 Mini is OpenAI's budget-tier distillation of GPT-5, designed for high-volume, cost-sensitive tasks that don't require full flagship reasoning depth. It supersedes GPT-4o with improved instruction following and a massively expanded 400K context window at a fraction of the cost.
Verdict
The new budget default for OpenAI API users: faster, cheaper, and smarter than GPT-4o with a context window that punches well above its price tier.
Quality score
66%
Pricing
$0.25/1M in
$2.00/1M out
Speed
Very fast
5/5 speed
Context
400k tokens
Output cost of $2/1M tokens is higher than some competing budget models (Gemini Flash at ~$0.60/1M output). At scale, output-heavy tasks may erode cost advantages — monitor token ratios carefully. Supersedes GPT-4o, which may be deprecated on a rolling basis.
BudgetFastLong ContextHigh VolumeOpenAI
Best for
High-volume production workloads — chatbots, summarization pipelines, and document Q&A — where cost efficiency matters more than peak reasoning.
Pricing moves, ranking shifts, and capability updates.
New ModelMar 27, 2026
OpenAI: GPT-5 Nano — added to UseRightAI
OpenAI: GPT-5 Nano (OpenAI) is now indexed. It supersedes GPT-4o. The fastest and cheapest way into the GPT-5 ecosystem, built for scale rather than depth.
GPT-5 Nano costs $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.4 per million output tokens on the API, with cached input at $0.005 per million. A month of 10M input and 2M output tokens runs about $1.30 at list price, before any batch or caching discounts.
What is the context window of GPT-5 Nano?
GPT-5 Nano has a 400k tokens context window, with up to 128k tokens of output per response. That is the total of prompt plus response the model can hold in one request.
What is the knowledge cutoff of GPT-5 Nano?
GPT-5 Nano's training data runs through May 30, 2024, and the model was released on August 7, 2025. For anything after that date it needs web search or documents in the prompt.
What is GPT-5 Nano best for?
GPT-5 Nano is best for high-volume, latency-sensitive applications like classification, autocomplete, summarization, and lightweight chat where cost-per-token matters most.. It is a strong fit when that workflow matters more than the tradeoffs around budget pricing and very fast speed.
When should I avoid GPT-5 Nano?
Avoid if your task requires complex reasoning, detailed code generation, or nuanced writing — GPT-5 Mini or full GPT-5 will deliver meaningfully better results worth the cost premium.
What is a cheaper alternative to GPT-5 Nano?
GPT-5.1-Codex-Max (OpenAI) at $1.25/1M/1M input against GPT-5 Nano's $0.05/1M/1M. The strongest choice for serious software engineering work, provided you can absorb the output-side pricing. Compare it first if GPT-5 Nano's pricing is the thing stopping you.
What is a faster alternative to GPT-5 Nano?
GPT-4.1 Mini — very fast against GPT-5 Nano's very fast, with 1.0M 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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