OpenAI vs Reflection

OpenAI lists 126 models and Reflection 1. Reflection is cheaper on a typical model ($1.50 per 1M tokens median). Below: line-up, price tiers, the cheapest model for each capability, and what each costs for five real workloads.

At a glance

OpenAIReflection
Models listed1261
Models with published pricing1261
Typical price (median, 3:1 blend per 1M)$3.44$1.50
Cheapest paid modelOpenAI: gpt-oss-20b ($0.04)Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B ($1.50)
Longest contextOpenAI: GPT-5.4 (1.1M)Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B (1.0M)
Free models20
Newest modelOpenAI: GPT-6.1 Sol (2026-09-29)Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B (2026-10-16)
Price changes in the last 90 days280

What each costs for real workloads

For each workload: the cheapest model from each provider that can actually do it (fits the context window; tool calling required for the agent), and its monthly cost at list price.

Workload (per month)OpenAIReflection
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation
$3.15 with OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b$135 with Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages
$3.06 with OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b$150 with Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B
Coding / tool-using agent
2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context
$3.24 with OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b$156 with Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page
$1.98 with OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b$98.00 with Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass
$0.99 with OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b$53.00 with Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B

Cheapest model for each capability

You needOpenAIReflection
Any modelOpenAI: gpt-oss-20b ($0.04)Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B ($1.50)
With tool callingOpenAI: gpt-oss-20b ($0.04)Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B ($1.50)
With image inputOpenAI: GPT-5 Nano (batch) ($0.07)none listed
With reasoning modeOpenAI: gpt-oss-20b ($0.04)Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B ($1.50)
128K+ contextOpenAI: gpt-oss-20b ($0.04)Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B ($1.50)
1M+ contextOpenAI: GPT-4.1 Nano (batch) ($0.09)Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B ($1.50)

Line-up by type and price tier

Model typeOpenAIReflection
text+audio->text+audio30
text+file->text40
text+image+file->text890
text+image+file->text+image30
text+image->text80
text->text191
Price per 1M (3:1 blend)OpenAIReflection
Free20
Under $0.50270
$0.50 – $3321
$3 – $10380
$10 and up270

Frequently asked questions

How does OpenAI cost compare with Reflection cost?

Reflection is cheaper on a typical model: a median of $1.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 input/output) against $3.44 for OpenAI. The cheapest paid models are OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b at $0.04 and Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B at $1.50.

Is OpenAI better than Reflection?

It depends on the job: OpenAI offers the broader line-up (126 models vs 1), Reflection the lower typical price, OpenAI the longest context (1.1M tokens). The workload table above shows which wins for chat, RAG, agents, batch jobs and long documents.

Which has more models, OpenAI or Reflection?

OpenAI: OpenAI lists 126 models and Reflection lists 1.

Which provider has the longest context window?

OpenAI: OpenAI's longest is OpenAI: GPT-5.4 at 1.1M tokens; Reflection's is Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B at 1.0M.

Do OpenAI or Reflection offer free models?

OpenAI: 2 free models (e.g. OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (free)). Reflection: none.

Which provider has models that can read images?

OpenAI: 100 of 126 models accept images. Reflection: 0 of 1.

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