OpenAI Flex: Save More, Think Slower, Do Better
Flex processing is the one API option that OpenAI has launched to affect the use of AI models in lower price but slower response times and “occasional resource unavailability” to contend with other AI companies like Google more aggressively.
Flex processing is available under beta for OpenAI’s latest o3 and o4-mini reasoning models. According to OpenAI, this is meant for less important “non-production” jobs such as model evaluations, data enrichment and asynchronous workloads.
It halves API rates to $5 per million input tokens (~750,000 words) and $20 per million output tokens for o3, from the standard $10 per million input tokens and $40 per million output tokens, and in the case of o4-mini brings down the price to $0.55 per million input tokens and $2.20 per million output tokens, from $1.10 per million input tokens and $4.40 per million output tokens, respectively.
Flex processing is launched at the time when the prize of frontier AI is rocketing beyond bounds and rivals bring out much cheaper and efficient budget-oriented models.
On Thursday, Google launched Gemini 2.5 Flash, a reasoning model that matches or exceeds DeepSeek’s R1 in terms of performance at a lower cost of input tokens.
In an email announcement to clients about the new Flex pricing, OpenAI also notified customers that developers in tiers 1-3 of its usage tier hierarchy will have to comply with the newly introduced ID verification process to gain access to o3.
The tiers are determined by the amount of money spent on OpenAI services. Also behind verification are O3’s and other models’ reasoning summaries and streaming API support, all gated.
OpenAI had mentioned that ID verification is meant to thwart bad actors from contravening its usage policies.
Reactions
Is it now that AI owns an economy package? This OpenAI dey reason like Nigeria telecom o!
Interesting! I fit now run my data scraping task without shouting ‘No be me go pay $20 again’.
Flex? Abeg make dem add ‘Japa Mode’ too. Anything to reduce cost, I dey onboard!
Make e slow small, no wahala. As long as the price no dey pursue me like Lagos landlord.
This na real MVP move. I go test am with my chatbot project sharp sharp!
If dem gimme Flex for $1/month, I go carry him like MTN night plan. No time.
Cheaper AI? Na this kain innovation go help our SMEs thrive well well.
Omo, even AI dey do Flex these days. Life don hard reach everywhere!
If OpenAI Flex no chop all my dollar, I fit now plan my startup idea without fear.
Flex? This one sweet pass Nigerian budget. Make government copy this energy abeg!
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