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OpenAI Intermediate

GPT-Realtime-2.1 Mini

GPT-Realtime-2.1 Mini is OpenAI’s lower-cost realtime voice model for voice agents and phone assistants, with tool use, image input and $10/M audio input pricing.

Speech & Voice ModelsTextImageAudio Paid
In plain English

What is this model and why does it matter?

GPT-Realtime-2.1 Mini is OpenAI's lower-cost realtime reasoning model for voice agents, with text and audio I/O, image input, tool use and improved alphanumeric recognition.

Voice agentsRealtime customer supportPhone assistantsInteractive AITool-using speech applications
Model overview

GPT-Realtime-2.1 Mini: features, use cases and important details

GPT-Realtime-2.1 Mini is a current AI model verified from first-party OpenAI sources.

GPT-Realtime-2.1 Mini verified specifications

GPT-Realtime-2.1 Mini is OpenAI’s lower-cost realtime reasoning model for voice agents, with text and audio I/O, image input, tool use and improved alphanumeric recognition. The verified context or usage limit is 128000 tokens, with 32000 tokens maximum output.

GPT-Realtime-2.1 Mini pricing and access

Text pricing is $0.60 per 1M input tokens, $0.06 per 1M cached input tokens and $2.40 per 1M output tokens. Audio pricing is $10/M input and $20/M output.

GPT-Realtime-2.1 Mini best uses

Voice agents, Realtime customer support, Phone assistants, Interactive AI, Tool-using speech applications.

GPT-Realtime-2.1 Mini limitations

Audio remains more expensive than text, Realtime systems need latency testing, Voice-agent actions require safeguards.

Get started

How to use this model

  1. Create an OpenAI API key.
  2. Call gpt-realtime-2.1-mini.
  3. Connect over WebRTC, WebSocket or SIP.
  4. Configure voice and reasoning behavior.
  5. Add function tools if required.
  6. Monitor text and audio token usage.
Copy and try

Example prompts

  • Act as a realtime support agent and resolve this issue.
  • Listen to the caller and extract the account request.
  • Use the available function when the user confirms the action.
Capabilities

What it can do

  • 128K context
  • 32K output
  • Realtime audio
  • Text I/O
  • Image input
  • Function calling
  • Reasoning
Best for

Practical use cases

  • Voice bots
  • Contact centers
  • Phone automation
  • Realtime assistants
  • Conversational applications
Pricing

What does it cost?

Text pricing is $0.60 per 1M input tokens, $0.06 per 1M cached input tokens and $2.40 per 1M output tokens. Audio pricing is $10/M input and $20/M output.

Input$0.60 / 1M text tokens; $10 / 1M audio tokens
Output$2.40 / 1M text tokens; $20 / 1M audio tokens
Simple summaryDesigned as a lower-cost realtime tier. Audio tokens are priced separately from text tokens.

What stands out

  • Lower cost than flagship realtime tier
  • Tool use
  • Large realtime context
  • Audio and text support

Things to consider

  • No structured outputs
  • No fine-tuning
  • Proprietary
Limitations

Important restrictions and trade-offs

  • Audio remains more expensive than text
  • Realtime systems need latency testing
  • Voice-agent actions require safeguards
SimplifyAITools verdict

Our editorial take

A strong high-demand realtime model for developers who want modern OpenAI voice-agent capabilities at a lower cost than the full GPT-Realtime-2.1 tier.

References

Primary sources

  1. Open source 1 ↗
  2. Open source 2 ↗
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