# GPT-5.4 mini and nano

> OpenAI's smallest GPT-5.4 variants — mini is free-tier fast, nano is API-only cheap, both punch above their weight.

- Org: OpenAI
- Date: 2026-03-17
- Category: model
- Source: https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-5-4-mini-and-nano/
- Canonical page: https://ai-tldr.dev/releases/openai-gpt-5-4-mini-nano/

## In short

OpenAI's economy-tier models: mini runs 2x faster than GPT-5 mini and approaches GPT-5.4 on SWE-Bench Pro; nano is the cheapest option for classification and extraction. Mini is free-tier; nano is API-only.

## What it is

GPT-5.4 mini and GPT-5.4 nano are the economy-tier variants of GPT-5.4, released March 17, 2026 — twelve days after the main launch. Mini is available to free-tier ChatGPT users and significantly improves over GPT-5 mini across coding, reasoning, multimodal understanding, and tool use. Nano is the smallest and cheapest variant, API-only, built for tasks where speed and cost matter most: classification, data extraction, ranking, and coding subagents.

## How it works

Mini runs more than 2x faster than GPT-5 mini and approaches the full GPT-5.4 on several evaluations including SWE-Bench Pro and OSWorld-Verified. Nano is recommended for high-volume, lower-complexity tasks. Both are designed for the developer sweet spot of 'good enough quality at minimal cost and latency.'

## Why it matters

Most production AI workloads do not need frontier-tier reasoning — they need fast, cheap, reliable models for classification, extraction, and routing. Mini and nano fill that gap in the GPT-5.4 family, and mini being free-tier means hundreds of millions of ChatGPT users now access GPT-5.4-class capability at no cost.

## Who it's for

High-volume API users, developers building multi-agent systems that need cheap routing models.

## Try it

platform.openai.com/docs/models/gpt-5.4

## Links

- [Announcement](https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-5-4-mini-and-nano/)
- [9to5Mac](https://9to5mac.com/2026/03/17/openai-releases-gpt-5-4-mini-and-nano-its-most-capable-small-models-yet/)
- [Simon Willison](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Mar/17/mini-and-nano/)