GPT-5 Nano is $0.02 cheaper per 1M input tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
GPT-5 Nano vs gpt-oss-safeguard-20b
Pick gpt-oss-safeguard-20b for lower cost; pick GPT-5 Nano only if the larger context window matters more.
Page updated:
Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick gpt-oss-safeguard-20b for lower cost; pick GPT-5 Nano only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-safeguard-20b is estimated at $0.22 vs $0.25 for GPT-5 Nano, saving $0.03 (10% lower).
Cost-first pickgpt-oss-safeguard-20b
Context-first pickGPT-5 Nano
Sample savings$0.0310%
10x traffic gap$0.25
GPT-5 Nano has more context, but gpt-oss-safeguard-20b saves $0.03 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.25. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors GPT-5 Nano, balanced workload favors gpt-oss-safeguard-20b, and output-heavy chatbot favors gpt-oss-safeguard-20b.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | GPT-5 Nano | gpt-oss-safeguard-20b |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | GPT-5 Nano | $0.45 | $0.53 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | gpt-oss-safeguard-20b | $0.45 | $0.38 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | gpt-oss-safeguard-20b | $2.05 | $1.57 |
gpt-oss-safeguard-20b is $0.1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (25% lower; 1.33x difference).
GPT-5 Nano has 268.93K more context (3.05x larger).
gpt-oss-safeguard-20b is $0.03 cheaper on the standard workload (10% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.
Quick Decision
GPT-5 Nano has the lower input price; gpt-oss-safeguard-20b has the lower output price; GPT-5 Nano offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, gpt-oss-safeguard-20b is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.25 for GPT-5 Nano and $0.22 for gpt-oss-safeguard-20b.
Choose GPT-5 Nano when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.
Choose gpt-oss-safeguard-20b when you care most about lower output-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-safeguard-20b is estimated at $0.22 vs $0.25 for GPT-5 Nano, saving $0.03 (10% lower).
- gpt-oss-safeguard-20b is $0.03 cheaper on the standard workload (10% lower).
- GPT-5 Nano is $0.02 cheaper per 1M input tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).
- gpt-oss-safeguard-20b is $0.1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (25% lower; 1.33x difference).
- GPT-5 Nano has 268.93K more context (3.05x larger).
| Feature | GPT-5 Nano (OpenAI) | gpt-oss-safeguard-20b (OpenAI) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.05 | $0.075 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0.4 | $0.3 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0.25 | $0.22 |
| Context Window | 400K | 131.07K |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #68 | #124 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | gpt-oss-safeguard-20b | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-safeguard-20b is estimated at $0.22 vs $0.25 for GPT-5 Nano, saving $0.03 (10% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | GPT-5 Nano | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | gpt-oss-safeguard-20b | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | GPT-5 Nano | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT-5 Nano when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-5 Nano when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-5 Nano when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
- gpt-oss-120b can replace GPT-5 Nano when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.13.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
- Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
- Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite offers 1.05M context with $0.3 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
- Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4
Cheaper alternatives
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Open OpenAI modelsGPT-5-Nano is the smallest and fastest variant in the GPT-5 system, optimized for developer tools, rapid interactions, and ultra-low latency environments. While limited in reasoning depth compared to its larger...
gpt-oss-safeguard-20b is a safety reasoning model from OpenAI built upon gpt-oss-20b. This open-weight, 21B-parameter Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) model offers lower latency for safety tasks like content classification, LLM filtering, and trust...