
The release of GPT-5 on August 7, 2025, was a major step forward in the progress of large-language models. A lot of people want to know how this new model stacks up against older ones and other systems that compete with it as businesses and developers quickly start using it.
GPT-5 gives you more context, better reasoning, fewer hallucinations, and a safer experience for users. But is it really the best choice for everything?
This article goes into great detail comparing GPT-5 to other LLMs, looking at its pros and cons, price, safety, and how well it works for different uses. We also talk about how Clarifai's platform can help businesses work together and combine different models to get the best results and save money.
By the end, you'll know exactly what GPT-5 does well, what its competitors do well, and how to choose the best model for you.
OpenAI's GPT family has changed a lot since the first model came out in 2018. As each new generation came out, the number of factors, context length, and reasoning skills grew, which made conversations flow better and make more sense.
There are three types of GPT-5: main, mini, and nano. There are four levels of reasoning for each: low, medium, and high. The model is a mix of a quick model for easy tasks, a deeper reasoning model for harder ones, and a real-time router that picks between the two.
This model is much better than earlier ones because it can take in up to 272,000 tokens and give out up to 128,000 tokens. It can hold long conversations and summarize long documents.
The competition has also moved quickly:
You need to know these players because not every model works for everyone. In the next few sections, we'll compare GPT-5 to each one in terms of features, price, and safety.
The 272k token input limit and the 128k output limit are two of GPT-5's best new features. This bigger context window lets the model read whole books, complicated codebases, or long meeting transcripts without stopping.
There are four levels of reasoning in GPT-5: low, medium, and high. This lets you choose how much computing power you need and how deep your answers are.
A real-time router chooses between a fast, smart model and a deeper reasoning model based on how complicated the conversation is. This mixed method makes sure that simple prompts work well while keeping strong reasoning for more difficult tasks.
OpenAI's system card says that there have been big improvements in reducing hallucinations and making it easier to follow directions.
In GPT-5, safe completions are a new way to train that puts the safety of outputs ahead of binary refusal. GPT-5 doesn't just refuse to answer a sensitive question; it changes its answer to follow safety rules while still being helpful.
The system card also talks about how to cut down on sycophancy by training the model not to agree with users too much. Prompt injection and deception are still problems, but early red-team tests show that GPT-5 does better than many of its competitors and has a lower success rate for behavior attacks.
The prices for GPT-5 are very reasonable:
The GPT-5 small and nano models give even bigger discounts:
If you use input tokens again within a short amount of time, you get a 90% discount. This is very important for chat apps because they keep giving the same information about the conversation over and over.
So, GPT-5 costs less than GPT-4o and a lot less than Claude Opus ($15/m input, $75/m output) or Gemini Pro ($2.5/m input, $15/m output).
You can use the same software on a lot of different devices because there are three versions of GPT-5: main, mini, and nano.
But all of the models have the same way of training and keeping people safe.
Important: GPT-5 doesn't support audio or image output by default. In GPT-4o and DALL-E, these features are still there.
GPT-4o had better latency and could take input from more than one source, but it still used only one model architecture.
GPT-5, on the other hand, uses a hybrid system with a real-time router and multiple models.
The result is better use of resources: simple tasks use the quick model, and complex questions use the deep reasoning model. Compared to GPT-4, GPT-5's ability to switch automatically is a big step forward in architecture.
GPT-4 could handle up to 32,000 tokens (and 128,000 for GPT-4 Turbo), but GPT-5 can handle 272,000 tokens and send back up to 128,000 tokens.
Early testers say that GPT-5 does its job better and makes fewer mistakes.
The system card for GPT-5 says that a lot of progress has been made in reducing hallucinations.
While GPT-4 and GPT-4o were landmark releases for multimodal capability and latency, GPT-5 represents a qualitative leap in reasoning, architecture, and contextual comprehension.
Across coding, science, mathematics, and abstract reasoning, it closes gaps that earlier generations couldn’t bridge — and in some domains, approaches early AGI-level benchmarks.
GPT-4o and o3 were single-model stacks trained to handle all task types.
GPT-5 introduces a multi-model routing architecture — a real-time reasoning router that dynamically decides whether to invoke:
a fast execution model for lightweight queries, or
a deep reasoning model for complex, multi-step reasoning chains.
This hybrid orchestration makes GPT-5 not just faster on simple prompts but also more computationally strategic.
Benchmarks from Wolfia (2025) show a 28–34% reduction in average inference time on mixed workloads, even while accuracy improved.
In short: GPT-5 behaves more like a distributed system than a monolithic model — managing its own internal “compute orchestration” per query.
| Benchmark | What It Tests | GPT-4 | GPT-4o / o3 | GPT-5 (Standard) | GPT-5 (Thinking / Pro) | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU (Massive Multitask Language Understanding) | Academic reasoning across 57 fields | 86.4 % | 88.2 % | 91.7 % | 94.1 % | +7.7 pts |
| GPQA Diamond (Graduate-level Science) | Deep scientific comprehension | 48.5 % | 51.3 % | 66.7 % | 74.2 % | +25 pts |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Real software bug fixing and patch validation | 54.1 % | 63.7 % | 72.9 % | 74.9 % | +20 pts vs GPT-4 |
| LiveCodeBench | Real-time coding and competitive programming | 62.5 % | 67.4 % | 74.6 % | 78.3 % | +15.8 pts |
| AIME / HMMT (Mathematical Olympiad) | Multi-step symbolic math reasoning | 36.5 % | 43.7 % | 68.3 % | 79.4 % | +43 pts |
| ARC-AGI (Abstraction & Reasoning Corpus) | Abstract reasoning and pattern completion | 32.1 % | 35.6 % | 51.4 % | 63.0 % | +30 pts |
| HumanEval+ / CodeContests | Programming correctness & optimization | 77.2 % | 81.0 % | 86.5 % | 89.7 % | +12 pts |
Across all six reasoning and coding benchmarks, GPT-5 demonstrates significant jumps — not incremental gains.
In aggregate “Reasoning Composite” tests, GPT-5 scored 19–24 % higher than GPT-4o, especially when its Thinking Mode was triggered.
The GPQA Diamond and AIME/HMMT benchmarks reveal the most dramatic improvements.
GPT-5’s architecture allows it to internally simulate structured problem-solving (symbolic reasoning + probabilistic reasoning).
It doesn’t just “predict answers” — it reflects, re-evaluates intermediate steps, and uses “reasoning checkpoints” similar to chain-of-thought introspection.
OpenAI’s system card notes that GPT-5 uses hierarchical thought expansion — generating parallel solution branches and cross-validating them before output.
This design explains why GPT-5 produces:
25–30 % fewer math logic errors,
2× higher reliability in chemistry and physics derivations,
and 40 % higher correctness on “proof validation” tasks than GPT-4o.
SWE-Bench Verified and LiveCodeBench data confirm that GPT-5 is now competitive with top open-source coding LLMs like Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Gemini 2.0 Pro.
Its deeper context retention (272k tokens) allows developers to load entire repositories and debug across multiple files.
Notable highlights:
Handles cross-file reasoning (e.g., modifying dependency trees, regenerating configs).
Performs version control aware edits, suggesting commits and summaries.
Achieves 89 % test pass rates on human-written test suites.
Performs runtime self-debugging, evaluating its own outputs for compile errors.
In “reasoning mode”, GPT-5 effectively behaves like an autonomous IDE partner rather than a reactive code predictor.
GPT-5 introduces what OpenAI calls Toolformer 2.0 — improved internal APIs for calling functions, search, and code execution.
Benchmarks like AgentBench (2025) show:
37 % higher task completion rates across chained tasks (e.g., “search → plan → summarize → decide”).
50 % fewer tool-call errors compared to GPT-4o.
2× faster plan convergence in reasoning-heavy domains (research synthesis, code refactoring, policy analysis).
This elevates GPT-5 from “chat assistant” to generalized agent platform, with emergent behaviors like goal memory, self-reflection, and error recovery.
In controlled tests, GPT-5 could resume multi-day reasoning sessions without context loss — something GPT-4o struggled with beyond ~64k token equivalence.
On ARC-AGI and Abstraction & Reasoning Challenge, GPT-5 achieved ~63 %, up from GPT-4o’s 35 %.
This is the benchmark most closely aligned with human fluid intelligence — pattern inference and transfer reasoning.
Researchers describe this jump as “GPT-5 beginning to reason like a human problem solver, not just a text predictor.”
Combined with high GPQA Diamond scores, these results suggest GPT-5’s reasoning stack integrates symbolic and intuitive reasoning — a defining feature of pre-AGI systems.
A major focus for GPT-5 was honesty metrics.
In evaluations similar to TruthfulQA v3, GPT-5 scored:
87.1 % on fact-fidelity (vs 74.3 % for GPT-4o),
3× fewer deceptive completions,
and near-zero “hallucinated citations” under standard prompts.
Safety systems now modulate outputs instead of blocking them — keeping the model productive but aligned.
Developers also note improved sycophancy resistance: GPT-5 is 2.4× less likely to agree with user falsehoods.
While GPT-4o excelled at low-latency voice tasks (~232 ms first token), GPT-5’s token throughput is its real highlight:
First token latency: ~180 ms average
Throughput: ~50–60 tokens/sec (Pro variant)
Token compression ratio: 1.3× vs GPT-4 (fewer tokens per task with same accuracy)
That means GPT-5 can process more reasoning per dollar — a critical factor for enterprise deployments.
GPT-5 is one of the fastest models on GPUs, balancing speed, reasoning depth, and efficiency better than any previous OpenAI generation.
| Plan / Model | Approx. Cost | Target User | ROI Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-5 (Standard) | $0.01–0.02 / 1k tokens | General users | 20–30 % faster completion and lower hallucination overhead |
| GPT-5 Pro | $200 / month (ChatGPT Pro) | Power users, developers | 2× reasoning depth, lower latency, higher reliability |
| GPT-5-Mini / Router Mode | Variable | High-volume enterprise workflows | Best cost-to-quality ratio with 70–80 % of Pro’s quality |
Decision Rule:
Choose GPT-5 Pro/Thinking if your tasks involve reasoning, research, or multi-step automation.
Use GPT-5-Mini for scalable workloads (support, summarization).
Stay with GPT-4o only for latency-sensitive, voice-first experiences.
| Use Case | Recommended Model | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Software Development / Code Refactoring | GPT-5 Pro | Superior SWE-bench, better context retention |
| Math, Science, Engineering Reasoning | GPT-5 Thinking | High GPQA Diamond / AIME accuracy |
| Conversational / Voice Assistants | GPT-4o | Lowest latency for speech + multimodal |
| Abstract Research, Legal, Strategy | GPT-5 Pro | Strongest chain-of-thought and safety behavior |
| High-volume Customer Workflows | GPT-5 Mini | Best efficiency per dollar |
Bottom line: GPT-4o made models conversational. GPT-5 made them competent
| Dimension | GPT-4 / GPT-4o / o3 | GPT-5 (Standard / Thinking / Pro) | What Changes / Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architectural & Routing Design | GPT-4o and o3 used more monolithic architectures; GPT-4o focused on multimodal, interactive (voice + image) capabilities | GPT-5 uses a hybrid routing system that dynamically picks between fast and deep reasoning paths depending on task complexity | More efficient compute usage; simple queries don’t incur full deep reasoning cost |
| Context Window / Memory | GPT-4: ~32K tokens (128K variant for “turbo”). o3 had stronger memory behavior but bottlenecks in longer chains. | GPT-5 supports up to 272,000 tokens input and up to 128,000 tokens output in many modes (via token caching and extended memory systems) | Enables summarization or reasoning over extremely long documents or multi-hour transcripts without manual chunking |
| Reasoning / Benchmark Performance | Strong baseline, but struggles on very deep, cross-domain reasoning and large code refactors | GPT-5 (especially its Thinking mode and Pro variant) outperforms in science, coding, math, and abstract reasoning benchmarks | Better handling of multi-step problems, combining modality, verifying correctness |
| Coding / Software Engineering | Moderate capability (especially smaller tasks); o3 was often used for developer tool integrations | GPT-5 scores ~74.9 % on SWE-bench Verified with “Thinking” enabled, and shows strong cross-language performance. (Vellum AI) | More reliable for real-world dev tasks: bugfixes, large repo refactoring, test scaffolding |
| Mathematical / Olympiad Reasoning | GPT-4o and o3 show strong performance on moderate-level math, but degrade on deep competition style tasks | GPT-5 with reasoning can approach or exceed 93–100 % on high-level benchmarks (e.g. HMMT, AIME) in many reported evaluations, especially with tool use enabled. (Passionfruit) | More trustworthy as a math assistant, useful for proofs, combinatorics, multi-step geometry |
| Token / Output Efficiency | Often uses more tokens for explanation; less ability to compress or prune unnecessary intermediate steps | GPT-5 often completes with fewer “effort tokens” by smarter planning, chunking, and pruning | Saves cost & latency on long chains of reasoning |
| Multimodal / Voice / Real-Time Interaction | GPT-4o still leads in real-time, low-latency voice + image interactions | GPT-5 supports stronger image, video, audio understanding, but is less optimized for voice latency than GPT-4o | Best trade-offs: GPT-5 for deep multimodal, GPT-4o remains better for conversational voice-first use |
| Hallucination / Safety / Honesty | Nontrivial error rates and tendency to “agree” too readily (sycophancy) | GPT-5’s “safe completions” and post-training interventions reduce hallucinations, deceptive completions, and sycophancy. Some analyses cite as low as ~2 % error rates in reasoning mode. (Creole Studios) | More robustness under adversarial or underspecified prompts; safer outputs in sensitive domains |
| Latency & Throughput | Lower latency in light tasks; but deeper tasks get slower | First-token latency reportedly < 200 ms in many GPT-5 contexts; throughput for Pro variants > 50 tokens/sec. (Data Studios ‧Exafin) | Better user experience in many settings; deep tasks slower but acceptable if routed correctly |
| Cost & ROI / Token Pricing | Older pricing tiers, often more expensive for deep computations | GPT-5 often has lower token cost per unit reasoning, especially via internal routing and caching discounts. Some benchmarks show “mini” versions offering much of the performance at far lower cost. (Wolfia) | For many users, the productivity uplift can justify upgrade; but diminishing returns matter for less-complex tasks |
| Use-Case Suitability / ROI | Good for general chat, moderate tasks, voice/assistant features | GPT-5 shines on heavy reasoning, research, large-scale automation, legal / scientific / technical domains | Optimal for power users, teams, enterprises; for casual use GPT-5-mini paths may suffice |
People know that Claude Opus 4.1 has good safety rules and is honest about them.
Gemini 2.5 is very good at multimodal tasks and integrates with Google's products.
Grok 3 and Grok 4 are open-weight models from xAI, focused on open-source and community.
Free, open-source models that can run locally.
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GPT-5 is great at writing code and finding bugs.
Other models:
GPT-5 produces coherent long-form articles with fewer hallucinations and safe completions.
Researchers need to synthesize long reports and keep context across sources.
In support, safety and cost are paramount.
Industries like healthcare, finance, and law require accuracy, safety, and auditability.
Based on what Simon Willison wrote in his blog, the table below shows the average price of inputs and outputs per million tokens.
|
Model |
Input $/M tokens |
Output $/M tokens |
Notes |
|
GPT-5 |
1.25 |
10.00 |
90% off reused tokens |
|
Mini GPT-5 |
0.25 |
2.00 |
Less reasoning, cheaper |
|
Nano GPT-5 |
0.05 |
0.40 |
For lightweight jobs |
|
Claude Opus 4.1 |
15.00 |
75.00 |
Most expensive but strong safety |
|
Claude Sonnet 4 |
3.00 |
15.00 |
Mid-tier performance |
|
Claude Haiku 3.5 |
0.80 |
4.00 |
Cost-effective but limited |
|
Gemini Pro 2.5 (>200k) |
2.50 |
15.00 |
Large context, multimodal |
|
Gemini Pro 2.5 (<200k) |
1.25 |
10.00 |
Similar cost to GPT-5 |
|
Grok 4 |
3.00 |
15.00 |
Open weight and competitive |
|
Grok 3 Mini |
0.30 |
0.50 |
Lower cost but fewer capabilities |
|
Mistral / Llama 3 |
0 |
0 |
Free, but hosting costs apply |
According to the system card:
When selecting an LLM, weigh:
Examples:
Clarifai orchestration can dynamically route queries based on these factors.
Developers can build pipelines where a query triggers multiple models in sequence or parallel.
Example pipeline:
This ensures optimal cost + performance while maintaining safety.
As the LLM landscape diversifies, Clarifai’s role becomes critical in orchestrating, monitoring, and securing AI systems.
GPT-5 represents a major leap forward in LLMs:
Its hybrid architecture + flexible reasoning levels make it versatile across workloads. Safe completions + sycophancy reduction improve trustworthiness.
Compared to GPT-4/4o → big improvements in memory and reasoning.
Against competitors (Claude, Gemini, Grok) → GPT-5 balances performance + affordability, though rivals retain niche strengths.
Key decision factors:
For many enterprises, a multi-model strategy via Clarifai offers the best of all worlds:
Flexibility + responsible deployment will be essential to harness AI’s full power in 2025 and beyond.
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