Last week, OpenAI released the much-anticipated GPT-5. The reviews have been mixed, so much so that the company restored the 4o chat model because a vocal group of users were unhappy it went away.
My primary workflow lately includes Cursor, so I was able to take advantage of the free week of GPT-5. I have to say, for code use, it was impressive. There were several non-trivial updates I needed to make to a large iOS app feature, and it did some very heavy lifting. I was surprised to get multiple working solutions on the first request for complex functionality involving Core Graphics.
Cost Comparison with Claude Opus
GPT-5 is significantly cheaper than Claude Opus, with comparable if not better capabilities:
| Model | Input cost | Output cost |
|---|---|---|
| GPT-5 (Standard) | $1.25 | $10.00 |
| Claude Opus (4.1) | $15.00 | $75.00 |
Different Models for Different Situations
I’ve become more discerning about what models to use in what scenarios. My coding workflow going forward, where AI is used, will be:
- GPT-5 or Gemini 2.5 for initial buildout of large areas, updates to complex features.
- Claude Sonnet 4 for day to day, smaller work.