🇺🇸 USA · OpenAI GPT models lineup
Status: 🟩 COMPLETE 🟦 LIVING
Last updated: 2026-06-26
Plain-English tagline: OpenAI’s family of models — GPT-5, GPT-5 mini, GPT-5 nano, GPT-5 Pro, o-series reasoning models, Sora, gpt-image-1, Whisper. The full catalog explained.
Front-matter facts
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Vendor | OpenAI (San Francisco, USA) |
| Country / origin | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Recommended for Australian users? | ✅ Yes |
| Privacy summary | Per-product privacy posture; API never trains by default; consumer ChatGPT trains by default with opt-out |
| Free tier | Many models available free via ChatGPT free or limited API trial credits |
| Paid tiers | Via ChatGPT subscriptions, API pay-per-token, Azure OpenAI Service |
| First released | GPT-1 2018; GPT-5 family 2025-26 |
| Last reviewed | 2026-06-26 |
| Official site | https://platform.openai.com/docs/models |
What it is
OpenAI ships a family of AI models across several capabilities. This entry is the lineup explainer — what each model is for, when to choose which.
Chat / general-purpose
| Model | Best for | Approximate cost (per M tokens, in/out) |
|---|
| GPT-5 | Default best-quality chat | ~US3/15 |
| GPT-5 mini | Most production use; balanced cost-perf | ~US0.15/0.60 |
| GPT-5 nano | Cheap classification / extraction at scale | ~US0.05/0.20 |
| GPT-5 Pro | Hardest reasoning; longest agent runs | Premium pricing |
| GPT-4o (legacy) | Still available; replaced by GPT-5 default | Lower than GPT-5 |
| GPT-4o mini (legacy) | Replaced by GPT-5 mini | Cheap |
Reasoning (o-series)
| Model | Best for |
|---|
| o3 | Hard math / science / coding reasoning |
| o4-mini | Cheaper reasoning |
| GPT-5 Pro with extended thinking | Combined reasoning + general capability |
Image generation
| Model | Best for |
|---|
| gpt-image-1 (“Image” / “Image 2.0”) | Current flagship image gen; in-chat editing |
| DALL-E 3 (legacy) | Replaced by gpt-image-1; still accessible via API |
| DALL-E 2 (legacy) | Deprecated |
Video generation
| Model | Best for |
|---|
| Sora 2 / Sora Turbo | Current video gen; with audio in Sora 2 |
| Sora 1 (legacy) | Replaced by Sora 2 |
Voice
| Model | Best for |
|---|
| Voice Engine | Voice cloning (limited access) |
| TTS (text-to-speech API) | High-quality voice generation |
| Whisper | Speech-to-text transcription |
| Realtime API | Bi-directional voice streaming |
Embeddings
| Model | Best for |
|---|
| text-embedding-3-large | High-quality embeddings for RAG |
| text-embedding-3-small | Cheaper / faster embeddings |
Coding
| Model | Best for |
|---|
| codex-1 (the 2025 agent model) | Powers OpenAI Codex agent CLI + cloud |
| GPT-5 family | General coding via API / ChatGPT |
Open-weight (rare for OpenAI)
| Model | Best for |
|---|
| gpt-oss | OpenAI’s open-weight releases (Llama / Mistral alternative; smaller selection) |
How to choose between them
| Question | Answer |
|---|
| Best quality for occasional use? | GPT-5 (default in ChatGPT) |
| Cheap at scale? | GPT-5 mini or nano |
| Hardest reasoning / agent tasks? | GPT-5 Pro or o-series |
| Image generation? | gpt-image-1 |
| Video generation? | Sora 2 |
| Transcription? | Whisper |
| Voice synthesis? | TTS or Voice Engine |
| Real-time voice? | Realtime API |
| Embeddings for RAG? | text-embedding-3-large |
Pricing tips
- Free: ChatGPT free tier (limited GPT-5)
- US$20/month: ChatGPT Plus (Plus tier of all)
- US$200/month: ChatGPT Pro (heavy use, Operator, Pulse)
- API metered: pay-per-token (cheapest for batch / programmatic)
- Batch API: 50% discount on async work
- Azure OpenAI Service: enterprise distribution with AUS data residency
Recent changes
- 2026: GPT-5 family broadly deployed; GPT-5 Pro
- 2025: GPT-5 release; gpt-image-1 replaced DALL-E 3; Sora 2 launched
- 2024: GPT-4o, o1 (later renamed o3 / o4-mini), Sora 1
- 2023: GPT-4 launched
- 2022: ChatGPT launched (GPT-3.5)
- 2018: GPT-1 (foundational research)
Gotchas
- Model versions matter — always pin specific model (e.g.,
gpt-5-2025-08-07) in production rather than generic gpt-5 alias
- o-series tokens are more expensive but produce reasoning tokens (which contribute to cost)
- Sora video pricing is per-second; can add up fast
- gpt-image-1 in ChatGPT is included with Plus / Pro; via API metered per image
- Older models (GPT-4o, GPT-3.5) are deprecated for new use — migrate
See also
Sources