Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 vs o4-mini
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 (2025) and o4-mini (2025) are frontier reasoning models from Google DeepMind and OpenAI. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 ships a 1m-token context window, while o4-mini ships a 200k-token context window. On Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding, o4-mini leads by 2 pts. On pricing, o4-mini costs $1/1M input tokens versus $1.25/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 fits 5x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and o4-mini for tighter calls.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps and long-context analysis | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents |
| Decision fit | RAG, Long context, and Vision | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 1m | 200k |
| Cheapest output | $10/1M tokens | $4/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 1 tracked | 4 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 1 shared | Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding leader |
Decision tradeoffs
- Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Local decision data tags Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 for RAG, Long context, and Vision.
- o4-mini holds a shared-benchmark lead on Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding, ahead by 2 points.
- o4-mini has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $4/1M tokens.
- o4-mini has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- o4-mini uniquely exposes Reasoning, JSON / Tool use, and Code execution in local model data.
- Local decision data tags o4-mini for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06
$3,500
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
o4-mini
$1,800
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Replicate API
Estimated monthly gap: $1,700. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- o4-mini is $6/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- o4-mini adds Reasoning, JSON / Tool use, and Code execution in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 is $6/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning, JSON / Tool use, and Code execution before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-05-06 | 2025-04-16 |
| Context window | 1m | 200k |
| Parameters | — | — |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Openness | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Weights | Not released | Not released |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-01 | 2025-08 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $1.25/1M tokens | $1/1M tokens |
| Output price | $10/1M tokens | $4/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| JSON / Tool use | No | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | Yes |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding | 79.6 | 81.6 |
Continue comparing
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- Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 vs GPT-5.5 Instant
- Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.