AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 vs OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)

Neither wins outright: AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 is the pick when you need to fit long inputs in one request, OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) when cost matters at scale.

Key numbers

SpecAI21: Jamba Large 1.7OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)
ProviderAI21OpenAI
Input price (per 1M tokens)$2.00$0.02
Output price (per 1M tokens)$8.00$0.11
Blended price (3:1 input/output)$3.50$0.05
Cheaper than … of all models we track18%87%
Context window256K tokens (~384 pages)131K tokens (~197 pages)
Larger context than … of all models45%23%
Max output per response4K tokens (~3,100 words)118K tokens (~88,500 words)
Input typestexttext
Output typestexttext
Free variantNoNo
Listed since2025-08-082025-08-05
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What it costs for real workloads

Monthly cost at list price for five common workloads. Token counts per unit are stated so you can scale them to your own traffic. A workload that does not fit a model's context window is marked rather than priced.

Workload (per month)AI21: Jamba Large 1.7OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)Difference
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens)
$310$4.04OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) saves $306
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens)
$320$4.00OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) saves $316
Coding / tool-using agent
2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context (60,000 in / 6,000 out tokens)
$336$4.22OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) saves $332
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens)
$208$2.59OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) saves $205
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass (100,000 in / 2,000 out tokens)
$108$1.31OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) saves $107

Capabilities side by side

CapabilityAI21: Jamba Large 1.7OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)What it lets you do
Tool / function calling✓ Yes✓ Yescall your APIs and run agent loops
Structured output (JSON schema)✓ Yes✓ Yesreturn JSON that validates against your schema
Reasoning / thinking mode—✓ Yesspend extra tokens thinking before answering hard problems
Image input——read screenshots, charts and scanned pages
Audio input——take speech or audio directly
File / PDF input——accept documents without your own parsing step
Image output——generate images, not just text
Built-in web search——answer from live web results
Seed (reproducible sampling)—✓ Yesrepeat a generation for tests and evals
Log-probabilities——read token confidence for classification and scoring

From each model's published parameters and input/output types. “—” means not advertised, not proven absent.

Price history

DateModelInput / 1MOutput / 1M
2026-09-23OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)$0.02$0.11

Which should you choose?

Choose AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 if…

  • you need to fit long inputs in one request — 256K tokens is roughly 384 pages, against 197

Choose OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) if…

  • cost matters at scale — it is 99% cheaper on a typical 3:1 input/output mix ($4.04 vs $310 a month for 50,000 support chats)
  • you need reasoning / thinking mode — to spend extra tokens thinking before answering hard problems; AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 does not advertise it
  • you need seed (reproducible sampling) — to repeat a generation for tests and evals; AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 does not advertise it
  • you generate long outputs in one go — up to 118K tokens (about 88,500 words) per response

Frequently asked questions

Is AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 better than OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)?

Neither wins outright: AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 is the pick when you need to fit long inputs in one request, OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) when cost matters at scale. In short: AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 when you need to fit long inputs in one request; OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) when cost matters at scale, you need reasoning / thinking mode, you need seed (reproducible sampling), you generate long outputs in one go.

Which is cheaper, AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 or OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)?

OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) is cheaper: $0.05 vs $3.50 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 99% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $4.04 against $310.

How much do AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 and OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) cost per million tokens?

AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 costs $2.00 per 1M input tokens and $8.00 per 1M output tokens; OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) costs $0.02 input and $0.11 output. Output tokens are billed separately, so long answers shift the gap.

Which has the bigger context window, AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 or OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)?

AI21: Jamba Large 1.7: 256K tokens, about 384 pages, against 131K (about 197 pages) for OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch).

Do AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 and OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) support function calling and JSON output?

Tool calling — AI21: Jamba Large 1.7: yes, OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch): yes. JSON-schema structured output — AI21: Jamba Large 1.7: yes, OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch): yes.

Can AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 or OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) read images?

Neither accepts image input — both are text-in models.

Is AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 or OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) free to use?

No free variant is listed for either; both are pay-per-token.

What is the maximum output length of AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 and OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)?

AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 can write up to 4K tokens (about 3,100 words) per response; OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) up to 118K (about 88,500 words).

When were AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 and OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) released?

AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 was listed on 2025-08-08; OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) on 2025-08-05.

Has the price of AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 or OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) changed?

AI21: Jamba Large 1.7: price unchanged since we started tracking it on 2026-03-10. OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch): input price cut 52% ($0.05 → $0.02/1M), output price cut 44% ($0.20 → $0.11/1M) on 2026-09-23.

About the two models

Compare AI21: Jamba Large 1.7 with other models

Compare OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) with other models

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