GPT-4 vs text-davinci
GPT-4 (2023) and text-davinci (2022) are compact production models from OpenAI. GPT-4 ships a 8k-token context window, while text-davinci ships a 4k-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing. The goal is to make the tradeoff clear before deeper testing.
GPT-4 is safer overall; choose text-davinci when provider fit matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | GPT-4 | text-davinci |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production | general production evaluation |
| Decision fit | Coding, Agents, and Vision | General |
| Context window | 8k | 4k |
| Cheapest output | $60/1M tokens | - |
| Provider routes | 4 tracked | 0 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- GPT-4 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- GPT-4 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- GPT-4 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags GPT-4 for Coding, Agents, and Vision.
- Use text-davinci when your own prompt tests beat the comparison signals; the local data does not show a decisive standalone advantage yet.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
GPT-4
$39,000
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenAI API
text-davinci
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for GPT-4 and text-davinci; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use before moving production traffic.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for text-davinci and GPT-4; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- GPT-4 adds Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2023-03-14 | 2022-01-27 |
| Context window | 8k | 4k |
| Parameters | 1.76T (8x222B MoE)* | 175B |
| Architecture | Mixture of Experts | 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 | 2021-09 | 2021-06 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | GPT-4 | text-davinci |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $30/1M tokens | - |
| Output price | $60/1M tokens | - |
| Providers | - |
Capabilities
| Capability | GPT-4 | text-davinci |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | No |
| Code execution | Yes | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-15. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.