The 2025 ChatGPT Model Guide
Updated August 2025
Your complete reference for choosing the right OpenAI model for every task.
| Model | Speed | Cost (API) | Best For | Avoid For | Power Tips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-5 "The Reasoning Engine" | Slow | Very High | Complex Problem-Solving Advanced Coding Scientific Reasoning Agentic Tasks | Simple & Fast Tasks Cost-Sensitive Apps Casual Conversation | Use the reasoning.effort API parameter to balance cost/speed with reasoning quality for hard problems. |
| GPT-5 mini API "The Professional" | Medium | High | High-Quality Business Apps Structured Data Analysis Smart Default Model | Most complex reasoning High-volume, low-cost needs | The go-to workhorse for most advanced business applications. A great balance of power and efficiency. |
| GPT-4.1 API "The Librarian" | Slow | High | Massive Document Analysis Large Codebase Understanding High-Fidelity Recall | Short, simple tasks Multi-step "thinking" | The 1 million token context is its superpower. Feed it entire books or codebases for comprehensive analysis via the API. |
| GPT-4.1 mini & nano API "The Archivist" | Medium | Medium | Cost-Effective Long-Context RAG Systems Knowledge Base Queries | Demanding long-context analysis Top-tier reasoning | Affordable option for apps that need to reference large amounts of information without breaking the bank. |
| GPT-4o "The Creator" | Fast | Medium | Creative & Conversational Multimodal Input (Vision) User-Facing Chatbots Brainstorming | Complex Reasoning (use GPT-5) Massive Context (use GPT-4.1) | Still the champion for creative collaboration and user experience due to its speed and more "personable" tone. |
| GPT-3.5 Turbo API "The Sprinter" | Very Fast | Very Low | High-Volume Simple Tasks Text Classification Data Formatting Internal Automation | Nuanced or complex tasks High-accuracy needs Branded content generation | A legacy model that is perfect for simple, high-volume API calls where cost and speed are the primary concerns. |
🚀 Power User Workflows
The Reasoning Ladder: Start with GPT-4o for speed. If it struggles, escalate to GPT-5 mini for better analysis. For the most complex problems, use the full GPT-5.
The Context King: For tasks involving massive documents, legal files, or entire codebases, bypass other models and go straight to GPT-4.1 via the API to leverage its 1M token window.
The Creative Duo: Use GPT-4o for initial brainstorming and creative writing to get a fast, personable draft. Then, use GPT-5 mini to refine, fact-check, and add analytical depth.
The Budget Optimizer: Use GPT-3.5 Turbo for all simple, high-volume backend tasks (like classification or summarization). Use GPT-4.1 mini for any task requiring a large context on a budget.
📝 API Note: Models unlock their full potential via the API. GPT-5 offers the `reasoning.effort` parameter for tuning, while GPT-4.1 provides a massive 1M token context window. API usage is billed separately from ChatGPT subscriptions.