AI model comparison

gpt-oss-120b vs Llama 4 Scout

Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.

gpt-oss-120b is an open-weight, 117B-parameter Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) language model from OpenAI designed for high-reasoning, agentic, and general-purpose production use cases.

Input / 1M
$0.15
Output / 1M
$0.60
Context
131K

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct (16E) is a mixture-of-experts (MoE) language model developed by Meta, activating 17 billion parameters out of a total of 109B.

Input / 1M
$0.18
Output / 1M
$0.59
Context
1.31M

At a glance

Quick verdict

How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.

Lower price

openai logo

gpt-oss-120b

1.1x cheaper for a typical chat

Higher intelligence score

openai logo

gpt-oss-120b

11.6 vs 8.1 on Artificial Analysis

Larger context window

meta-llama logo

Llama 4 Scout

1.31M vs 131K tokens

Newer release

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gpt-oss-120b

Released August 5, 2025

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores

Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.

Intelligence index

openai logogpt-oss-120b11.6
meta-llama logoLlama 4 Scout8.1

Coding index

openai logogpt-oss-120b30.4
meta-llama logoLlama 4 Scout8.2

Agentic index

openai logogpt-oss-120b3.7
meta-llama logoLlama 4 Scout0.5

Pricing

gpt-oss-120b vs Llama 4 Scout API pricing

Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.

Metricopenai logogpt-oss-120bmeta-llama logoLlama 4 Scout
Input tokensPer 1M tokens$0.15$0.18
Output tokensPer 1M tokens$0.60$0.59
Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens$0.08Not available
Cache writePer 1M tokensNot availableNot available

What it costs in practice

Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.

Chat message

2K in, 500 out

openai logogpt-oss-120b$0.60
meta-llama logoLlama 4 Scout$0.66

Coding task

30K in, 4K out

openai logogpt-oss-120b$6.90$4.65 cached
meta-llama logoLlama 4 Scout$7.76

Long document summary

150K in, 2K out

openai logogpt-oss-120b$23.70$12.45 cached
meta-llama logoLlama 4 Scout$28.18

Specs

Context window and capabilities

How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.

Metricopenai logogpt-oss-120bmeta-llama logoLlama 4 Scout
Context window131K tokens1.31M tokens
Max output66K tokens118K tokens
Input typesTextImage, Text
Output typesTextText
Reasoning effort levelsHigh, Medium, LowNot available
Default reasoning effortMediumNot available
Release dateAugust 5, 2025April 5, 2025

Features

Supported features

API features available for each model.

Metricopenai logogpt-oss-120bmeta-llama logoLlama 4 Scout
Tool callingSupportedSupported
Structured outputsSupportedSupported
JSON modeSupportedSupported
ReasoningSupportedNot supported
TemperatureSupportedSupported
Stop sequencesSupportedSupported
Deterministic seedSupportedSupported
Verbosity controlNot supportedNot supported

Our take

gpt-oss-120b is 1.1x cheaper for a typical chat. gpt-oss-120b scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (11.6 vs 8.1). Llama 4 Scout has the larger context window (1.31M vs 131K tokens). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is gpt-oss-120b or Llama 4 Scout cheaper?

gpt-oss-120b is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). gpt-oss-120b costs $0.15 per 1M input tokens and $0.60 per 1M output tokens, while Llama 4 Scout costs $0.18 per 1M input tokens and $0.59 per 1M output tokens.

Which has a bigger context window, gpt-oss-120b or Llama 4 Scout?

Llama 4 Scout supports up to 1.31M tokens of context, compared with 131K for gpt-oss-120b.

Is gpt-oss-120b smarter than Llama 4 Scout?

On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, gpt-oss-120b scores 11.6 and Llama 4 Scout scores 8.1, putting gpt-oss-120b ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.

Can I use gpt-oss-120b and Llama 4 Scout at the same time?

Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see gpt-oss-120b and Llama 4 Scout answer side by side and keep the better response.

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Why choose? Ask both.

Send one prompt to gpt-oss-120b and Llama 4 Scout at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.