GPT-5 mini vs GPT-5 nano

Side-by-side benchmark comparison across knowledge, coding, math, and reasoning.

Sibling matchup inside the GPT-5 family.

GPT-5 mini and GPT-5 nano sit in the same GPT-5 family. This page is less about two unrelated model lineages and more about how the siblings trade off on benchmark shape, token costs, and practical limits like context window.

GPT-5 mini is clearly ahead on the aggregate, 74 to 31. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

GPT-5 mini's sharpest advantage is in mathematics, where it averages 88.5 against 85.2. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is GPQA, 86 to 71.2.

GPT-5 nano gives you the larger context window at 400K, compared with 128K for GPT-5 mini.

Quick Verdict

GPT-5 mini makes more sense if mathematics is the priority, while GPT-5 nano is the cleaner fit if you need the larger 400K context window.

Knowledge

GPT-5 mini

GPT-5 mini

71.5

GPT-5 nano

71.2

88
MMLU
-
86
GPQA
71.2
84
SuperGPQA
-
82
OpenBookQA
-
73
MMLU-Pro
-
16
HLE
-

Coding

GPT-5 mini
80
HumanEval
-
41
SWE-bench Verified
-
37
LiveCodeBench
-

Mathematics

GPT-5 mini

GPT-5 mini

88.5

GPT-5 nano

85.2

90
AIME 2023
-
92
AIME 2024
-
91
AIME 2025
85.2
86
HMMT Feb 2023
-
88
HMMT Feb 2024
-
87
HMMT Feb 2025
-
89
BRUMO 2025
-
85
MATH-500
-

Reasoning

GPT-5 mini
84
SimpleQA
-
82
MuSR
-
87
BBH
-

Instruction Following

GPT-5 mini
82
IFEval
-

Multilingual

GPT-5 mini
82
MGSM
-

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, GPT-5 mini or GPT-5 nano?

GPT-5 mini and GPT-5 nano are sibling variants in the GPT-5 family, so the right pick depends on whether you value the better benchmark line, cheaper tokens, or the larger context window. GPT-5 mini is ahead overall 74 to 31.

Which is better for knowledge tasks, GPT-5 mini or GPT-5 nano?

GPT-5 mini has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 71.5 versus 71.2. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for math, GPT-5 mini or GPT-5 nano?

GPT-5 mini has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 88.5 versus 85.2. Inside this category, AIME 2025 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Last updated: March 9, 2026

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