| Signal | GPT-5.4 Nano | Delta | gpt-oss-20b |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 100 | +33 | |
Benchmarks | 90 | +35 | |
Pricing | 99 | -1 | |
Context window size | 80 | +7 | |
Recency | 100 | +26 | |
Output Capacity | 85 | +65 | |
| Overall Result | 5 wins | of 6 | 1 wins |
Score History
78.8
current score
GPT-5.4 Nano
right now
57.1
current score
OpenAI
OpenAI
gpt-oss-20b saves you $72.60/month
That's $871.20/year compared to GPT-5.4 Nano at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | GPT-5.4 Nano | gpt-oss-20b | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 79 | 57 | GPT-5.4 Nano |
| Rank | #50 | #146 | GPT-5.4 Nano |
| Quality Rank | #50 | #146 | GPT-5.4 Nano |
| Adoption Rank | #50 | #146 | GPT-5.4 Nano |
| Parameters | -- | 20B | -- |
| Context Window | 400K | 131K | GPT-5.4 Nano |
| Pricing | $0.20/$1.25/M | $0.03/$0.14/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 100 | 67 | GPT-5.4 Nano |
| Benchmarks | 90 | 56 | GPT-5.4 Nano |
| Pricing | 99 | 100 | gpt-oss-20b |
| Context window size | 80 | 73 | GPT-5.4 Nano |
| Recency | 100 | 74 | GPT-5.4 Nano |
| Output Capacity | 85 | 20 | GPT-5.4 Nano |
Our score (0-100) is driven by benchmark performance (90%) from Arena Elo ratings, MMLU, GPQA, HumanEval, SWE-bench, and 15+ standardized evaluations. Capabilities and context window serve as tiebreakers (10%). Learn more about our methodology.
Scores 79/100 (rank #50), placing it in the top 83% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 57/100 (rank #146), placing it in the top 50% of all 290 models tracked.
GPT-5.4 Nano has a 22-point advantage, which typically translates to noticeably stronger performance on complex reasoning, code generation, and multi-step tasks.
gpt-oss-20b offers 88% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $2.54/month with gpt-oss-20b vs $21.75/month with GPT-5.4 Nano - a $19.21 monthly difference.
Both models have comparable response speeds. For most applications, the latency difference is negligible.
When latency matters most: Interactive chatbots, IDE code completion, real-time translation, and user-facing applications where response time directly impacts experience. For batch processing, background summarization, or offline analysis, latency is less critical.
Code generation & review
Based on overall model capabilities and architecture for coding tasks like generating functions, debugging, and refactoring
Customer support chatbot
Suitable for user-facing chat with competitive response times. gpt-oss-20b also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (400K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($0.14/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily
Creative writing & content
Higher overall composite score (79/100) correlates with better nuance, coherence, and style in long-form content
Image understanding & OCR
Supports vision input - can analyze screenshots, diagrams, photos, and scanned documents directly
GPT-5.4 Nano clearly outperforms gpt-oss-20b with a significant 21.699999999999996-point lead. For most general use cases, GPT-5.4 Nano is the stronger choice. However, gpt-oss-20b may still excel in niche scenarios.
Best for Quality
GPT-5.4 Nano
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
gpt-oss-20b
88% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
GPT-5.4 Nano
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
GPT-5.4 Nano
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
GPT-5.4 Nano
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by OpenAI
| Capability | GPT-5.4 Nano | gpt-oss-20b |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input)differs | ||
| Function Calling | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Web Searchdiffers | ||
| Image Output |
OpenAI
OpenAI
gpt-oss-20b saves you $1.64/month
That's 88% cheaper than GPT-5.4 Nano at 1,000 tokens/request and 100 requests/day.
Assumes 60% input / 40% output token ratio per request. Actual costs may vary based on your usage pattern.
| Parameter | GPT-5.4 Nano | gpt-oss-20b |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 400K | 131K |
| Max Output Tokens | 128,000 | -- |
| Open Source | No | Yes |
| Created | Mar 17, 2026 | Aug 5, 2025 |