API cost decision in 10 seconds

GPT Audio vs GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini

Pick GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini when budget and context both matter.

Pricing data updated: 2026-05-26T11:08:00Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is estimated at $1.25 vs $7.5 for GPT Audio, saving $6.25 (83.3% lower).

Cost-first pickGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini

Context-first pickGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini

Sample savings$6.2583.3%

10x traffic gap$62.5

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $62.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	GPT Audio	GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini	$17.5	$2.25
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini	$12.5	$2.25
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini	$52.5	$10.25

Cheaper input GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini $2.5 vs $0.25 / 1M

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is $2.25 cheaper per 1M input tokens (90% lower; 10x difference).

Cheaper output GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini $10 vs $2 / 1M

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is $8 cheaper per 1M output tokens (80% lower; 5x difference).

Larger context GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini 128K vs 400K

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini has 272K more context (3.12x larger).

Sample workload GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini $7.5 vs $1.25

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is $6.25 cheaper on the standard workload (83.3% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

GPT Audio Calculating… Estimated API cost

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

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

Verdict

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini has the lower input price; GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini has the lower output price; GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $7.5 for GPT Audio and $1.25 for GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini.

Best Fit

Choose GPT Audio when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.

Choose GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is estimated at $1.25 vs $7.5 for GPT Audio, saving $6.25 (83.3% lower).
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is $6.25 cheaper on the standard workload (83.3% lower).
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is $2.25 cheaper per 1M input tokens (90% lower; 10x difference).
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is $8 cheaper per 1M output tokens (80% lower; 5x difference).
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini has 272K more context (3.12x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	GPT Audio (OpenAI)	GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini (OpenAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$2.5	$0.25
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$10	$2
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$7.5	$1.25
Context Window	128K	400K
Release Date	2026-01-19	2025-11-13

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is estimated at $1.25 vs $7.5 for GPT Audio, saving $6.25 (83.3% lower).
High-volume input processing	GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT Audio when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT Audio when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT Audio when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
gpt-oss-120b can replace GPT Audio when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.13.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

No popular competitor is currently available.

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

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Provider catalogs

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OpenAI catalog

Review all tracked OpenAI models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

Open OpenAI models

GPT Audio

The gpt-audio model is OpenAI's first generally available audio model. The new snapshot features an upgraded decoder for more natural sounding voices and maintains better voice consistency. Audio is priced...

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is a smaller and faster version of GPT-5.1-Codex