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© 2026 CompareLLM. Public benchmark data aggregated from Arena Elo, LiveBench, SWE-bench & OpenRouter.

Every score has a dated snapshot.

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  1. Home
  2. Comparisons
  3. GPT-4o vs GPT-5

Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 1, 2026

GPT-4o vs GPT-5 benchmark

In this head-to-head showdown, GPT-5 delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,558 vs 1,335), while GPT-5 leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (68.4%), while GPT-4o is more budget-friendly at $10/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Executive Comparison Verdict

Bottom Line: Choose GPT-5 if your priority is peak reasoning, complex code generation, and top preference Elo. Choose GPT-4o if you are optimizing for low latency, high throughput, and cost-efficient API deployment.
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Verified Head-to-Head Advantage Breakdown

9 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost

GPT-4o (4)GPT-5 (5)
GPT-4o
4 of 9 Wins
✓Time to first token✓Output speed✓Input price✓Output price
GPT-5
5 of 9 Wins
✓Preference Elo✓LiveBench✓SWE-bench✓GPQA Diamond✓Context window
OpenAI
Leads 4 of 9 metrics
GPT-4o

Previous OpenAI flagship. Still a common compare baseline on legacy pages.

Elo 1,335$10/1M out
OpenAI
Leads 5 of 9 metrics
GPT-5

OpenAI flagship reasoning model for 2025–26. Strong general preference Elo and multimodal coverage.

Elo 1,558$20/1M out

GPT-5 Thinking Depth & Cost Scaler

Model B

Simulate accuracy gains vs added response time & token cost

Mode: Medium (Standard)

Reasoning models “think before answering” by generating internal reasoning tokens. Higher effort improves math, coding, and logic accuracy, but increases response delay and token costs.

Thinking Delay
290 ms
Standard speed
Reasoning Depth
~1,500
Internal tokens
Cost / 1k Calls
$38.50
4.5× standard bill
Accuracy Boost
+4.5% accuracy
STEM & SWE-bench
Top Rival Showdowns for GPT-4o
All Matchups
Compare vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5vs Gemini 3 Provs Grok 4.6vs DeepSeek V4 Provs Qwen 3 Max
Preference LeaderGPT-5 Wins

GPT-5

Δ 223 Arena Elo pts

Throughput LeaderGPT-4o Wins

GPT-4o

110 tok/s

Value per Dollar LeaderGPT-4o Wins

GPT-4o

$10 / 1M output

Capability Percentiles

Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Leaders Matchup Capability Radar

Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.

Tap any node to inspect
Percentile 0–100
Head-to-Head Comparison

Overall Matchup Breakdown

Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.

GPT-4o (4)vsGPT-5 (6)
GPT-4o: 4W (40%)Overall: GPT-5GPT-5: 6W (60%)
← GPT-4oGPT-5 →
🏆GPT-5(5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Benchmark
GPT-4ovsGPT-5
Preference Elo
1,335vs1,558+223
Coding Elo
—vs1,540
SWE-bench
54.8%vs68.4%+13.6%
LiveBench
54.2%vs69.8%+15.6%
GPQA Diamond
73.2%vs85.2%+12%
GPT-4o: 0WGPT-5: 5W
🏆GPT-4o(2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Benchmark
GPT-4ovsGPT-5
Output speed
110 tok/svs78 tok/s+32 tok/s
Time to first token
180 msvs290 ms+110 ms
GPT-4o: 2WGPT-5: 0W
🏆GPT-4o(2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Benchmark
GPT-4ovsGPT-5
Output price
$10/1Mvs$20/1M+$10/1M
Input price
$2.5/1Mvs$5/1M+$2.5/1M
Context window
128kvs400k+272k
GPT-4o: 2WGPT-5: 1W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Preference Elo+223
GPT-4o1,335
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-51,558
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Coding Elo
GPT-4o—
GPT-51,540
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
LiveBench+15.6%
GPT-4o54.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-569.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
SWE-bench+13.6%
GPT-4o54.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-568.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPQA Diamond+12%
GPT-4o73.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-585.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Time to first token+110 ms
GPT-4o180 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-5290 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output speed+32 tok/s
GPT-4o110 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-578 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Input price+$2.5/1M
GPT-4o$2.5/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-5$5/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output price+$10/1M
GPT-4o$10/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-5$20/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Context window+272k
GPT-4o128k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-5400k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
BenchmarkGPT-4oGPT-5Advantage Delta
Preference Elo
1,335
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
1,558
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+223
Coding Elo—
1,540
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
—
LiveBench
54.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
69.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+15.6%
SWE-bench
54.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
68.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+13.6%
GPQA Diamond
73.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
85.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+12%
Time to first token
180 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
290 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+110 ms
Output speed
110 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
78 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+32 tok/s
Input price
$2.5/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
$5/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+$2.5/1M
Output price
$10/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
$20/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+$10/1M
Context window
128k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
400k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+272k
Interactive Simulator (USD)

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).

Save up to 50% with GPT-4o
Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo
Quick Presets:
Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out
RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)
GPT-4o$237.50 / mo
In: $87.5Out: $150
GPT-5$475.00 / mo
In: $175Out: $300
Estimated Cost Delta

GPT-4o is estimated to save $237.50/month ($2,850/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

  • 1
    GPT-5:Pick GPT-5 when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
  • 2
    GPT-4o:Pick GPT-4o when you are optimizing output cost.
  • 3
    GPT-4o:Pick GPT-4o when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsGPT-5

Higher SWE-bench (68.4%).

High-volume chatGPT-4o

Lower output list price ($10/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIGPT-4o

Lower TTFT (180 ms).

Long-document RAGGPT-5

Larger window (400k).

Screenshots / visionGPT-5

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (GPT-5).

Target WorkloadRecommended PickEvaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agentsGPT-5Higher SWE-bench (68.4%).
High-volume chatGPT-4oLower output list price ($10/1M).
Voice / low-latency UIGPT-4oLower TTFT (180 ms).
Long-document RAGGPT-5Larger window (400k).
Screenshots / visionGPT-5Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (GPT-5).

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news
launchAug 8, 2025

GPT-5 (2025) remains the legacy OpenAI flagship baseline

Still a common compare target. 5.6 Sol replaced it as the buy; GPT-5 stays for old URLs.

newsMay 13, 2024

GPT-4o stays as the 2024 compare anchor people still search

Deprecated for buying. Kept because “4o vs sonnet” is still a typed query.

Community Sentiment

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CompareLLM AI Matrix

Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry

LIVE BENCHMARK
VS
OpenAI

GPT-4o

Elo 1,335
SWE-bench54.8%
Speed (tok/s)110 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$2.5/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$10/1M
OpenAI

GPT-5

Elo 1,558
SWE-bench68.4%
Speed (tok/s)78 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$5/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$20/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, GPT-4o or GPT-5?
GPT-5 has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,558). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.
Which is better at coding, GPT-4o or GPT-5?
GPT-5 leads SWE-bench at 68.4% vs 54.8%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
GPT-4o output tokens are $10/1M versus $20/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, GPT-4o or GPT-5?
GPT-4o has the lower time-to-first-token (180 ms vs 290 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?
GPT-5 accepts 400k tokens versus 128k.
Can I self-host either model?
Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?
No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?
Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. GPT-4o and GPT-5 Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Related news

  • launch · Aug 8, 2025

    GPT-5 (2025) remains the legacy OpenAI flagship baseline

  • news · May 13, 2024

    GPT-4o stays as the 2024 compare anchor people still search

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All GPT-4o matchups →|All GPT-5 matchups →
GPT-4o vs GPT-4 Turbo (previous gpt-flagship)GPT-4o vs OpenAI o1 (next gpt-flagship)GPT-5 vs GPT-4.5 Orion (previous gpt-flagship)GPT-5 vs GPT-5.6 Sol (next gpt-flagship)OpenAI o3-mini vs GPT-5GPT-5.6 Terra vs GPT-5