--- title: OpenAI slug: openai url: "https://toolweight.com/options/openai" homepage: "https://openai.com" categories: llm-apis last_verified: 2026-01-15 license: CC-BY-4.0 --- # OpenAI > GPT models plus audio, images and embeddings on one bill The broadest first-party surface in the category: text, reasoning, realtime audio, image generation, embeddings, moderation and a hosted agent runtime, all under one key. The Responses API is the current front door and carries most of the agentic features. OpenAI's request format is also the category's lingua franca, almost every competitor and router ships a compatibility endpoint that imitates it. ## Identity | | | | --- | --- | | Name | OpenAI | | Company | OpenAI | | One-liner | GPT models plus audio, images and embeddings on one bill | | Site | https://openai.com | | Docs | https://platform.openai.com/docs | | Founded | 2015 | | Funding | Late-stage private | | Open source | No | | Brand | https://toolweight.com/vendors/OpenAI | | Compared in | 1 | ## Where it is compared ### [LLM APIs](https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis) Ranked **#2 of 18** on default weights. | Field | Value | Confidence | Verified | Source | Note | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Flagship model | GPT-5.1 | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | Last confirmed January 2026; OpenAI ships flagships faster than this page's cadence, so verify the current top model before quoting. | | Context window | 272,000 tokens | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | OpenAI advertises 400K as a combined figure; that is 272K of input plus a 128K output cap. This column carries the input half so it compares like for like against the input-only windows every other row publishes. | | Max output | 128,000 tokens | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | The output half of the advertised 400K combined window. | | Image input | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/images-vision | - | | Audio in/out | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/realtime | Realtime API does speech-to-speech; separate transcription and TTS models are also available. | | Open weights | ◐ | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-oss/ | gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b released under Apache 2.0 in August 2025. The flagship remains closed. | | OpenAI-compat API | ● | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | It is the reference implementation, though the newer Responses API is where the agentic features live. | | TTFT p50 | - | Unknown | - | - | - | | Output tok/s | - | Unknown | - | - | - | | $/M input | $1.25 /M tok | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://openai.com/api/pricing/ | GPT-5 family list rate as of January 2026, read off OpenAI's own pricing page. The flagship name above it is the inferred part of this row, not the number. | | $/M output | $10 /M tok | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://openai.com/api/pricing/ | - | | $/M cache read | $0.125 /M tok | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | Automatic caching discounts repeated prefixes by roughly 90%; no request-side configuration. | | Batch discount | 50 % | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/batch | - | | Tool use | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/function-calling | - | | Schema output | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/structured-outputs | Strict JSON Schema enforcement on both responses and tool parameters. | | Effort control | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/reasoning | reasoning_effort parameter with graduated levels. | | Computer use | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/tools-computer-use | The capability exists and is documented, but it is delivered through a separate computer-use preview model rather than by the flagship named on this row, the column's definition of partial. Graded on the same basis as Google's dedicated computer-use model. | | MCP support | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/tools-remote-mcp | Remote MCP servers can be attached as a tool on the Responses API. | | Cache TTL | Automatic, ~5-60 min, no configuration | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | Continuity policy | Dated snapshots are the norm and remain callable after the alias advances, which is the strongest routine protection in the category. Retirements are announced on a public deprecations page, but the notice window has historically been shorter than Anthropic's, closer to a quarter than half a year for API snapshots, and preview models have been pulled faster still. | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | Notice period | 90 days | Inferred | - | - | Observed from past API snapshot retirements; not a published guarantee, and varies by model tier. | | Pinnable versions | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://platform.openai.com/docs/models | - | | Zero retention | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | Default abuse-monitoring retention is 30 days; zero-retention is available to approved customers. | | Trains on your data | ○ | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/your-data | API data has not been used for training by default since March 2023. | | AU region | - | Unknown | - | - | Data residency is offered in several regions; AU availability unconfirmed at the time of writing. | | API since | 2020 | Inferred | - | - | - | | Positioning | One API for text, reasoning, audio, images and embeddings | Inferred | - | - | - | **Verdict.** The widest surface area in the category, and the only one where audio, images and text share a bill and a mental model. Dated snapshots make routine version management painless, the strongest routine protection here. On notice periods, be careful how much weight you put on the comparison: the retirements we have observed have run shorter than Anthropic's, but neither provider publishes a guaranteed minimum, so both numbers in that column are inference from past behaviour rather than a commitment either vendor has made. Pin, and keep an eye on the deprecations page. ## Alternatives - [Qwen](https://toolweight.com/options/alibaba-qwen), Alibaba's model family, huge open-weight range, closed flagship - [Amazon Bedrock](https://toolweight.com/options/amazon-bedrock), Multi-vendor model access inside your existing AWS account - [Anthropic](https://toolweight.com/options/anthropic), Claude models, built around long agentic runs and tool use - [Cerebras](https://toolweight.com/options/cerebras), Wafer-scale inference, the fastest tokens per second available - [Cohere](https://toolweight.com/options/cohere), Enterprise-focused models built for RAG and private deployment - [DeepSeek](https://toolweight.com/options/deepseek), Frontier-adjacent models at a small fraction of Western prices - [Fireworks AI](https://toolweight.com/options/fireworks-ai), Fast open-weight inference with strong structured-output support - [Google Gemini](https://toolweight.com/options/google-gemini), Gemini via AI Studio for prototyping or Vertex AI for production - [Groq](https://toolweight.com/options/groq), Custom LPU silicon serving open-weight models at extreme speed - [Meta Llama](https://toolweight.com/options/meta-llama), Open-weight Llama models, hosted almost everywhere but Meta - [Mistral AI](https://toolweight.com/options/mistral-ai), European lab with an open-weight lineage and EU-resident hosting - [Moonshot AI](https://toolweight.com/options/moonshot-ai), Kimi models, open-weight agentic performance at low cost ## Licence and attribution Data from toolweight (https://toolweight.com), licensed CC-BY-4.0. - Licence: [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) - Canonical HTML: https://toolweight.com/options/openai - Machine-readable: https://toolweight.com/options/openai.md · https://toolweight.com/api/v1 · https://toolweight.com/mcp - toolweight takes no affiliate revenue and sells no placements. 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