GPT Realtime vs o4-mini
GPT Realtime and o4-mini are both current openai production-tier models. o4-mini is meaningfully cheaper at $1.1 / $4.4 per 1M. o4-mini leads on coding, reasoning, long-context retrieval.
Specs side by side
| Metric | OpenAI GPT Realtime | OpenAI o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| Input price (per 1M) | $4 | $1.1 |
| Output price (per 1M) | $16 | $4.4 |
| Context window | 128k tokens | 200k tokens |
| Speed tier | ultra | slow |
| Open weights | No | No |
| EU region | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Prompt caching | No | Yes |
| Vision input | No | Yes |
| Extended thinking | No | Yes |
When to choose each
Choose GPT Realtime if…
- Low latency matters (ultra vs slow)
- You need realtime speech-to-speech
Choose o4-mini if…
- Cost is a priority ($1.1 / $4.4 per 1M vs $4 / $16 per 1M)
- HIPAA eligibility is required
- You need image input / vision
- Coding is central to your workload
- Reasoning is central to your workload
Benchmark delta
GPT Realtime leads on
GPT Realtime has no meaningful benchmark lead in this pair.
o4-mini leads on
- Coding
- Reasoning
- Long-context retrieval
- Instruction following
- Tool use
FAQ — GPT Realtime vs o4-mini
GPT Realtime vs o4-mini — which is better?
GPT Realtime and o4-mini are both current openai production-tier models. o4-mini is meaningfully cheaper at $1.1 / $4.4 per 1M. o4-mini leads on coding, reasoning, long-context retrieval. The right pick depends on your use case — see "When to choose each" above for a data-driven decision.
How does GPT Realtime pricing compare to o4-mini?
GPT Realtime costs $4 / $16 per 1M vs o4-mini at $1.1 / $4.4 per 1M. o4-mini is cheaper on output tokens by roughly 264%. Both support prompt caching, which reduces effective cost by 80-90% on repeat system prompts.
Does GPT Realtime or o4-mini have the bigger context window?
o4-mini has a 200k-token context window — 2× the 128k context of GPT Realtime. Enough for long reports and multi-document analysis.
Is there a free tier for GPT Realtime or o4-mini?
GPT Realtime: no — Paid-only. o4-mini: no — Paid-only.
Which is better for coding — GPT Realtime or o4-mini?
o4-mini leads on coding benchmarks (GPT Realtime: 78/100, o4-mini: 92/100). For production coding agents also weigh tool-use performance — GPT Realtime scores 84, o4-mini scores 88.