Simulating realistic Agentic workflow parameters (40,000 in / 1,500 out with 65% cache reuse). o4-mini delivers a 77% cost reduction over GPT-5.6 Sol.
| Traffic Volume Tier | GPT-5.6 Sol Monthly | o4-mini Monthly | Monthly Savings by picking o4-mini |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 reqs/mo (Dev/Testing) | $128.00 | $29.15 | Save $98.85 / mo |
| 10,000 reqs/mo (Small App) | $1,280.00 | $291.50 | Save $988.50 / mo |
| 100,000 reqs/mo (Growth Production) | $12,800.00 | $2,915.00 | Save $9,885.00 / mo |
| 1,000,000 reqs/mo (Scale SaaS) | $128,000.00 | $29,150.00 | Save $98,850.00 / mo |
o4-mini is 77% cheaper for Agentic workflow workloads. At standard Agentic workflow parameter ratios (40,000 input tokens, 1,500 output tokens, 65% cache hit), o4-mini costs $0.0292 per request compared to $0.128 on GPT-5.6 Sol.
GPT-5.6 Sol offers a context window of 1,050,000 tokens (max output: 128,000), while o4-mini offers 256,000 tokens (max output: 100,000).
At 100,000 requests per month, using o4-mini saves $9,885.00 every month (or $118,620.00 annually) compared to GPT-5.6 Sol.
Prompt caching is the single biggest lever — each step re-reads prior context. Summarize or prune tool outputs before appending them to the transcript. Cap the step budget; runaway loops are the #1 surprise on agent invoices.