How OpenAI is Consolidating Models into GPT-5

ByJorge Pereira
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Note: Written with the help of my research team 🙂 including: (Google Gemini, Google Notebook LM, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity.ai, Claude.ai and others as needed)

Back in August I wrote about The Launch of GPT-5: A New Leap in AI Intelligence and before that OpenAI Slashes o3 Model Prices by 80%: What It Means

This time I am writing about how the very confusing naming convention OpenAI Models is now consolidating into one.

For years, developers and businesses have managed a sprawling ecosystem of OpenAI models, with different versions optimized for specific tasks. Need a quick, cheap response? There’s a gpt-3.5-turbo   for that. Working on advanced reasoning? You’d choose one of the  gpt-4  series. As of August 2025, that era has officially ended. With the launch of the GPT-5 family, OpenAI has initiated a major consolidation, retiring older, specialized models and folding their distinct capabilities into a new, unified architecture.

This is not just an upgrade; it’s a strategic shift. The new GPT-5 model family is designed to be the “one ring” for most AI tasks. Instead of requiring developers to select different models for different use cases, the flagship GPT-5 uses an internal router to dynamically choose the right reasoning effort for each task, from a quick thought to a multi-step plan.

The consolidation of model capabilities into the GPT-5 ecosystem simplifies development, but it also marks a new era for AI application builders. It’s no longer about picking the right model; it’s about mastering the single model that can do it all.

The new GPT-5 model family at a glance

ModelPrice per 1M Tokens (Input / Output)DescriptionStrengthsIdeal Use Cases
GPT-5$1.25 / $10.00The flagship model, a powerful reasoning engine, with a built-in router that balances speed and thoroughness.Strong multi-step reasoning, high accuracy on benchmarks, lower hallucination rates, and excellent coding and context handling.Complex data analysis, research summarization, advanced question answering, and technical decision-making.
GPT-5 Codex$1.25 / $10.00A specialized, highly optimized version of GPT-5 designed for agentic software engineering and complex coding workflows.Focuses on execution of coding tasks. Adapts reasoning for both quick fixes and multi-hour debugging. Excellent for code review, validation, and producing high-quality code.Agentic coding applications, debugging production issues, large-scale refactoring, and structured code reviews.
GPT-5 Mini$0.25 / $2.00A faster, lower-cost option designed for efficiency and balancing inference speed with robust reasoning.Solid reasoning capabilities with faster response times than standard GPT-5, reduced resource usage, suitable for interactive sessions.Cost-sensitive applications like chatbots or IVR systems, and quick, well-defined tasks.
GPT-5 Nano$0.05 / $0.40Optimized for speed and low latency, making it ideal for applications that prioritize rapid responses.Ultra-fast response times, ultra-low latency, and the most cost-effective option.Real-time applications on edge devices and mobile apps, and simple tasks like summarization or classification.
GPT-5 Chat$1.25 / $10.00Advanced, natural, multimodal, and context-aware conversations for enterprise applications.Optimized for conversational AI, handles multimodal inputs, and maintains context over multiple turns.Enterprise applications, customer support systems, and multimodal conversational interfaces.
GPT-5 Thinking ModeImplicitA specialized, internal mode accessed within GPT-5 that dedicates more compute power for multi-step reasoning.Significantly improved performance in deep reasoning tasks. Achieves high scores on benchmarks like SWE-bench.Multi-step problem-solving, complex code analysis, and debugging.
GPT-5 ProCustom PricingExtended reasoning using scaled parallel computing for the most complex tasks, representing the highest “thinking effort”.Provides the highest level of reasoning and problem-solving within the GPT-5 family.Complex scientific research, engineering, and scenarios demanding maximum accuracy, potentially with custom pricing structures.

Note on pricing: Prices are based on publicly available information and are per million tokens. They may vary based on specific agreements.

Why is this consolidation important for the future of AI?

The consolidation of OpenAI’s models into the GPT-5 family signifies a major shift towards more versatile and efficient AI architectures. Here’s why this is important:

  • Reduced Complexity: Developers no longer have to worry about managing a fleet of different models for distinct tasks. This simplifies workflow and speeds up development.
  • Increased Efficiency: By consolidating functionality, OpenAI has reduced the computational resources needed for running diverse AI applications, with up to 40% better computational efficiency reported for some tasks.
  • A Steeper Learning Curve: The new architecture, with its internal routing mechanism, presents a new paradigm for developers to learn. Understanding how and when GPT-5 applies different levels of reasoning will be key to effective prompt engineering.
  • Unified Reasoning: The ability to perform high-level reasoning across text, code, and multimodal inputs from a single model opens new possibilities for creating more sophisticated AI applications.
  • Lower Costs: The move towards a unified platform and the introduction of a discounted cache for input tokens will lead to significant cost reductions for many use cases.

Retirement dates for older models

With the release of GPT-5, older OpenAI models are being retired. Here are the key dates to be aware of:

  • GPT-4.5-preview: Retired from the API on July 14, 2025. Replaced by GPT-4.1.
  • GPT-4o-realtime-preview: Retired from the API no earlier than September 1, 2025.
  • GPT-4 and GPT-4-32k (0314 and 0613): Retired from ChatGPT on April 30, 2025, and from the API on June 6, 2025.
  • GPT-3.5 Turbo (0301 and 0613): Retired on February 13, 2025.
  • Older models (including text-davinci, ada, babbage, curie, and davinci): Retired on January 4, 2024.

The shift to GPT-5 marks a new chapter for OpenAI and the broader AI ecosystem. By consolidating its offerings, the company is simplifying its product line while pushing the boundaries of what a single, unified AI model can achieve. Developers and businesses should take note of these changes and prepare to adopt the new GPT-5 model family to stay competitive in the fast-evolving AI landscape.

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