// alternatives · October 2026
GPT-5 Image Mini alternatives
Cheaper models that come close, budget substitutes, and the cheapest step up — chosen on published LiveBench scores and live list price, never on our opinion. Every model here supports image input, as GPT-5 Image Mini does.
LiveBench hasn't published a run for GPT-5 Image Mini. The strongest benchmarked model at a similar or lower price is GPT-6.1 Terra, scoring 77.8 overall.
GPT-5 Image Mini: no published LiveBench run, $2.38 per 1M blended tokens, about $1,220/mo for a RAG assistant.
Benchmarked models at or below its price
GPT-5 Image Mini has no published LiveBench run, so these are the highest-scoring benchmarked models priced no more than 25% above it — a known quantity to test against.
| Model | Overall | vs GPT-5 Image Mini | Blended / 1M | RAG assistant | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-6.1 Terraopenai 16% cheaper. Head to head → | 77.8 | — | $2.00−16% | $720.00/mo | 1.1M |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017deepseek 78% cheaper. Head to head → | 74.0 | — | $0.525−78% | $194.40/mo | 1.0M |
| Claude Haiku 5.5anthropic 92% cheaper. Head to head → | 69.8 | — | $0.200−92% | $74.00/mo | 1M |
| MiMo-V2.6-Proxiaomi 77% cheaper. Head to head → | 68.5 | — | $0.544−77% | $227.64/mo | 1.1M |
| MiniMax M3.1 Flashminimax 89% cheaper. Head to head → | 66.9 | — | $0.262−89% | $102.00/mo | 1.0M |
| GPT-6 Lunaopenai 92% cheaper. Head to head → | 64.6 | — | $0.200−92% | $74.00/mo | 1.1M |
GPT-5 Image Mini alternatives FAQ
What is the best alternative to GPT-5 Image Mini?
GPT-6.1 Terra. 16% cheaper. Every suggestion supports image input, like GPT-5 Image Mini.
How alternatives are chosen
- Scores — LiveBench release 2026-10-25. Only models with a published run are suggested on quality; a missing model means “not evaluated”, not “worse”.
- Prices — live list prices from OpenRouter, blended 3:1 input:output. Monthly figures price a RAG assistant with the published cached-input rate where there is one.
- Same job — suggestions must support every capability GPT-5 Image Mini has among tool calling and image input. Other listings of the same model (free or batch tiers) are variants, not alternatives, and are left out.
A few points on a public benchmark can hide large differences on your own tasks. Shortlist here, then decide with an eval — how to build one.