GPT-5 vs GPT-4o: Which to Use in India

Choosing between GPT-5 and GPT-4o usually comes down to two things: what the task needs, and what it costs in rupees. Both models sit behind the same unoblox endpoint, billed on one monthly GST invoice, so you can compare them directly instead of juggling two accounts and two invoices.

GPT-5 and GPT-4o: what actually differs

OpenAI positions GPT-5 as its current generalist flagship — the model it recommends by default for new integrations — while GPT-4o remains the fast, natively multimodal model many teams already built against. Neither replaces the other completely: GPT-4o is still a reasonable choice where you have existing prompts tuned around it, and GPT-5 is the better default for new work. For exact context-window size, modality support and rate limits, check each model's live page rather than relying on a summary — those details change as OpenAI updates the models.

₹ pricing side by side

Model	Model id	Input (₹ / 1M tokens)	Output (₹ / 1M tokens)
GPT-5	openai/gpt-5	₹126	₹1,008
GPT-4o	openai/gpt-4o	₹252	₹1,008

Output pricing is identical, but GPT-5's input rate is exactly half of GPT-4o's. For prompt-heavy workloads — long documents, RAG contexts, big system prompts — that difference compounds fast across a month of traffic.

When to reach for which

• Pick GPT-5 for new applications, general reasoning, coding help, and anything where you want OpenAI's newest default behaviour.
• Pick GPT-4o if you have an existing integration already tuned around it, or you specifically need its established multimodal behaviour and don't want to re-validate prompts yet.
• Run both behind the same key during a migration window and compare real output quality on your own prompts before fully cutting over.

Switching models without touching your key

Both models are reachable from the same unoblox API key, so an A/B test is a one-line change:

curl https://api.unoblox.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ub-gw-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"openai/gpt-5","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Summarise this invoice in two lines."}]}'

Change "model" to openai/gpt-4o and nothing else needs to move — same base URL, same key, same streaming and tool-calling behaviour, because unoblox is OpenAI-compatible end to end.

Frequently asked questions

Is GPT-5 billed in rupees for Indian teams? Yes. Every call through https://api.unoblox.ai/v1 is metered and billed in ₹, with a monthly GST invoice from an Indian entity, so input tax credit is claimable.

Which is cheaper, GPT-5 or GPT-4o? On input tokens GPT-5 is half the price of GPT-4o (₹126 vs ₹252 per million). Output tokens are priced the same on both, at ₹1,008 per million.

Do I need a US card or a global account to use either model? No. unoblox is the merchant of record, so you pay in rupees with an Indian payment method and never need an international card.

Does using GPT-5 or GPT-4o through unoblox mean my data stays in India? No — be clear-eyed about this. Both models run on OpenAI's own infrastructure. unoblox's India benefit is ₹ billing, a GST invoice, and one endpoint for every model — not data residency for external models.

Can I test both models before committing spend? Yes. Point your existing OpenAI SDK at the unoblox base URL, use your ub-gw-… key, and try both model ids on real prompts; there's no separate signup for each model.

What if I later want a cheaper model for high-volume calls? unoblox also lists smaller, lower-cost models like GPT-5 mini and DeepSeek V4 Flash — check live ₹ pricing at https://unoblox.ai/models for the current list.

Get started in rupees → https://unoblox.ai/sign-in