GPT-5 by OpenAI: a multi-model GPT-5 system with a real-time router, dedicated thinking models, configurable reasoning effort, and very large context windows.
Capabilities, design details, and architectural traits
GPT-5 is documented as a unified system that combines fast high-throughput models and dedicated thinking models, plus a real-time router that chooses which model to use based on conversation type, complexity, tool needs, and explicit intent. The system exposes distinct model variants for different costs and latencies and provides controls for developers to choose reasoning depth and verbosity.
| Trait | What the documentation says that makes it distinctive |
|---|---|
| Multi-model system | The GPT-5 system includes both fast high-throughput models (gpt-5-main) and deeper reasoning models (gpt-5-thinking) rather than a single monolithic snapshot. |
| Real-time router | A router dynamically selects the appropriate GPT-5 submodel based on conversation type, complexity, required tools, and explicit user intent. |
| Exposed thinking variants | The API provides direct access to thinking-family variants such as gpt-5-thinking, gpt-5-thinking-nano, and a pro setting (gpt-5-thinking-pro) that uses parallel test-time compute. |
| Configurable reasoning controls | Documentation shows explicit controls including reasoning effort levels and a verbosity parameter for developers. |
| Very large context support | Official materials document very large context windows and high max output token limits across GPT-5 variants to handle long interactions and large inputs. |
The defining idea of GPT-5 is a system-level approach: separate model variants for speed and deep reasoning, plus a router and developer controls so applications can trade latency, cost, and reasoning depth explicitly.
Independent evaluations · Artificial Analysis
Evaluate specifications, pricing, and independent benchmark indices
| Model Details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General Info | |||
| Provider | OpenAI | Anthropic | Anthropic |
| Release Date | August 7, 2025 | July 24, 2026 | June 9, 2026 |
| Knowledge Cutoff | Sep 2024 | May 2026 | - |
| Context & Limits | |||
| Context Window | 400K | 1M Best Context Window | 1M Best Context Window |
| Pricing (per 1M tokens) | |||
| Input Pricing | $1.25 Best Input Pricing | $5 | $10 |
| Output Pricing | $10 Best Output Pricing | $25 | $50 |
| Modalities | |||
| Inputs | textimagefile | textimage | textimagefile |
| Outputs | text | text | text |
| Benchmarks (0-100) | |||
| Intelligence Index | 35.3 | 63.1 Best Intelligence Index | 62.1 |
| Coding Index | 37.8 | 78.0 Best Coding Index | 76.5 |
| Agentic Index | 26.5 | 59.2 Best Agentic Index | 56.6 |
Graduate-level reasoning and expert Q&A evaluation.
Extremely difficult logical reasoning and knowledge.
Logical reasoning over long context windows.
Independent evaluation data provided by Artificial Analysis. To view the latest benchmarks and full details, visit their official site.
