AI Recommendation
Should you use o4-mini?
o4-mini is listed for chat workloads and supports a 200K context window.
Use it when GitHub Models's free tier is enough for evaluation, demos, or light production traffic.
o4-mini Free API on GitHub Models
Free API Available from GitHub Models
Fast o-series model for compact reasoning, coding, and tool use
Free APIOpenAI compatibleReasoningTool callingJSON modeTextImage
API Details
Copy-ready connection details
Base URL
https://models.github.ai/inference Model ID
o4-mini API format OpenAI Chat Completions
Technical Details
o4-mini specifications
Context window 200K
Max output 100K
Status Online
Family o-mini
Knowledge cutoff 2024-05
Released Apr 16, 2025
Last updated Aug 6, 2026
Free listing since Apr 16, 2025
Input text, image
Output text
Capabilities reasoning, tool calling, structured output, file attachments
External benchmark references
| Benchmark | Score | Metric | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aider Polyglot | 72 | percent correct | 2025-04-16 |
Best for
- Chat
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- Long context window
- Reasoning mode listed
- Tool calling support
- Structured JSON output
Watch outs
- Free-tier rate limits apply
Benchmark Overview
Benchmark signals for o4-mini
Intelligence General reasoning and instruction following
33.1/100 Coding Programming and code generation
25.6/100 Agentic Tool use and multi-step tasks
36.1/100 Speed Observed generation speed
163 tok/s Context Maximum listed context window
200K Pricing
o4-mini pricing per 1M tokens
Input $1.1 per 1M tokens
Output $4.4 per 1M tokens
Free access Available GitHub Models
Rate limit 10 RPM, 50 RPD provider policy
Availability
o4-mini availability by provider
We only found this o4-mini listing on GitHub Models in the current catalog. Use the related models section for nearby alternatives.
| Provider | Model listing | Access | Context | API | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | o4-mini | Free tier | 200K | OpenAI-style | 10 RPM, 50 RPD |
Compare
o4-mini alternatives to consider
| Model | Provider | Context | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phi-4 | GitHub Models | 131K | Free tier |
| Mistral Large (24.11) | GitHub Models | 131K | Free tier |
| AI21 Jamba 1.5 Large | GitHub Models | 256K | Free tier |
| gpt-5 | GitHub Models | 200K | Free tier |
| gpt-4.1 | GitHub Models | 1.0M | Free tier |
Typical Use Cases
o4-mini use cases
Chat
o4-mini is tagged for chat in this catalog and works with OpenAI-compatible client libraries.
FAQ
o4-mini free API FAQ
Is o4-mini free to use?
o4-mini is listed with free API access on GitHub Models, subject to the provider's quota and account policy.
What is the o4-mini model ID?
The model ID shown in this catalog is o4-mini.
What are the o4-mini free tier rate limits on GitHub Models?
The listed free tier limit is 10 RPM, 50 RPD. Limits can change per account tier, so confirm against the provider dashboard.
What context window does o4-mini support?
The listed context window is 200K tokens with up to 100K output tokens.
More about o4-mini
o4-mini is OpenAI's latest-generation small reasoning model, available free through GitHub Models. Building on the o3 architecture with improved reasoning efficiency, it uses internal chain-of-thought deliberation to tackle math, coding challenges, and logic problems that trip up standard chat models. With 200K context, 100K max output, and full OpenAI SDK compatibility, it works as a drop-in replacement in any tool that supports custom base URLs. Free tier limits are 10 RPM and 50 requests per day, with per-request caps applying. Requires only a GitHub account — no separate API key or credit card needed.
For API keys, setup steps, and provider-level limits, see the GitHub Models provider page.