GPT-3.5 Turbo vs GPT-5
GPT-3.5 Turbo vs GPT-5: GPT-3.5 Turbo is cheaper by 85% on average. GPT-3.5 Turbo from OpenAI (16,385-token context, tool calls) vs. GPT-5 from OpenAI (272,000-token context, reasoning, tool calls). Use Agent Command Center to A/B both in shadow mode and pick the winner per workload.
Side-by-side cost
Live workload comparison
Same workload run through both models. The cheaper one is highlighted.
3,000
0272,000
400
0128,000
5,000
01,000,000
At this workload, GPT-3.5 Turbo is 73% cheaper than GPT-5 — a savings of $860/month ($10,318/year).
Production recipe — Agent Command Center
strategy: cost-optimized
primary:
model: gpt-3-5-turbo
provider: openai
fallback:
model: gpt-5
provider: openai
shadow: { sample_rate: 0.05 } # mirror 5% of traffic to compare quality live| GPT-3.5 Turbo | GPT-5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.500/M | $1.25/M |
| Output price | $1.50/M | $10.00/M |
| Context window | 16,385 | 272,000 |
| Max output | 4,096 | 128,000 |
| Function calling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Vision | — | ✓ |
| Audio input | — | — |
| Reasoning | — | ✓ |
| Prompt caching | ✓ | ✓ |
| Structured output | — | ✓ |
| Pricing verified | May 12, 2026 | May 12, 2026 |
Benchmark comparison
Side-by-side public benchmark scores. Greener bar = winner.