gpt-oss-20b APIOPEN WEIGHTS131K context
gpt-oss-20b is an open-weight 21B parameter model released by OpenAI under the Apache 2.0 license.
Pricing & specs mirror our live pricing as of July 2026 (pay-as-you-go).
What is gpt-oss-20b?
gpt-oss-20b is an open-weight 21B parameter model released by OpenAI under the Apache 2.0 license. It uses a Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture with 3.6B active parameters per forward pass, optimized for...
gpt-oss-20b on the release timeline
gpt-oss-20b pricing
Pay-as-you-go on DataLLM Lab — these are our live list prices (identical to the pricing page):
| Model | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Cache read | Cache write | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gpt-oss-20b | $0.03 | $0.14 | — | — | 131K |
On output price, gpt-oss-20b is cheaper than 94% of the 309 models in the catalog. It is served by 13 providers; the best combined rate at our last snapshot was ≈ $0.03 / $0.13 per 1M via WandB, with upstream quantizations bf16, fp4, fp8.
What gpt-oss-20b costs per month
| Workload | Tokens in / out (monthly) | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|
| Support chatbot | 40M / 12M | $2.84 |
| RAG / knowledge base | 200M / 20M | $8.60 |
| Coding agent | 80M / 25M | $5.82 |
| Batch extraction | 150M / 8M | $5.47 |
| Content generation | 20M / 40M | $6.18 |
Estimate your own monthly cost
Cost = input price × input volume + output price × output volume. The same five workloads run on every model page, so any two compare directly.
gpt-oss-20b vs alternatives
| Model | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Context | Our test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| gpt-oss-20b | $0.03 | $0.14 | 131K | — |
| gpt-oss-120b | $0.03 | $0.15 | 131K | — |
| gpt-oss-safeguard-20b | $0.07 | $0.30 | 131K | — |
| GPT-4.1 Nano | $0.10 | $0.40 | 1M | — |
| Nova Micro 1.0 | $0.04 | $0.14 | 128K | — |
| Llama 3 8B Instruct | $0.14 | $0.14 | 8K | — |
Specs
| Model ID | openai/gpt-oss-20b |
| Modality | text->text (input: text) |
| Context window | 131,072 tokens |
| Tool / function calling | ✅ Yes |
| Structured output (JSON) | ✅ Yes |
| Released | 2025-08-05 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-06-30 |
| Open weights | ✅ openai/gpt-oss-20b · 7.0M downloads / 4.8K likes (30d) |
How to call gpt-oss-20b
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(base_url="https://api.datallmlab.com/v1", api_key="YOUR_DATALLM_LAB_KEY")
resp = client.chat.completions.create(
model="openai/gpt-oss-20b",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
# supports tools=[...] and tool_choice
)
print(resp.choices[0].message.content)curl https://api.datallmlab.com/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"model":"openai/gpt-oss-20b","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello"}]}'import OpenAI from "openai";
const client = new OpenAI({ baseURL: "https://api.datallmlab.com/v1", apiKey: process.env.DATALLM_KEY });
const r = await client.chat.completions.create({
model: "openai/gpt-oss-20b",
messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello" }],
});
console.log(r.choices[0].message.content);The same key routes gpt-oss-20b and 300+ other models — switch models by changing one string. How OpenAI-compatible APIs work.
Prompting tips for gpt-oss-20b
- State the goal, not every step. gpt-oss-20b reasons internally — give it the objective, constraints and success criteria and let it plan the approach; over-scripting each step tends to lower quality. Turn effort up for hard problems.
- Give it real tools. Pass a
tools=[...]schema instead of asking it to "pretend" — let gpt-oss-20b emit tool calls, execute them, and feed results back for the next turn. - Constrain JSON with a schema. Use
response_format/ structured outputs rather than "reply in JSON" to get valid, parseable objects every time. - Cheap enough to batch. Great for high-volume classification, extraction and drafting — template the prompt, batch requests, and validate outputs programmatically.
- Use the system role for rules. Put persistent instructions in the system message and keep user turns task-specific; pair with structured outputs for reliable automation.
Tips are derived from gpt-oss-20b's actual capabilities — context window, tool & JSON support, modality and price tier — not generic advice.
Open-source tools for gpt-oss-20b
Popular open-source projects for running and building with gpt-oss-20b — star counts pulled from GitHub (July 2026).
Listed by GitHub stars; inclusion is by ecosystem relevance (inference engines, agent frameworks and SDKs), not affiliation. Stars change — see each repo for current numbers.
Migrating to gpt-oss-20b
Coming from OpenAI or another gateway? On an OpenAI-compatible setup the only changes are base_url → https://api.datallmlab.com/v1 and model → openai/gpt-oss-20b. Messages, streaming, tool calls and the rest of your code stay the same. Routing & failover guide.
Self-host or use the API?
gpt-oss-20b ships open weights (openai/gpt-oss-20b, ~7.0M downloads and 4.8K likes in the last 30 days), with community quantizations (bf16, fp4, fp8) for smaller GPUs, so you can run it yourself. Most teams still use the API: no GPU to provision or keep warm, no inference ops, and instant access across 13 providers with automatic failover. Self-host when data residency or fixed per-token economics matter most.
Rate limits & reliability
Rate limits here are the DataLLM Lab gateway's, not the upstream vendor's. On 429 (rate limited) or 503 (provider busy), retry with exponential backoff; because gpt-oss-20b is served by 13 providers, requests can fail over to a healthy one automatically. See the error-code guide and failover setup.
Related reading
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Get an API keyCompare pricingFrequently asked questions
What is gpt-oss-20b?
gpt-oss-20b is an open-weight 21B parameter model released by OpenAI under the Apache 2.0 license. It accepts text input with a 131K-token context window and was released on 2025-08-05. On DataLLM Lab it is callable through one OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
How much does gpt-oss-20b cost?
On DataLLM Lab it is $0.03 per 1M input tokens and $0.14 per 1M output tokens — cheaper than about 94% of the 309-model catalog on output price. Pay-as-you-go, no subscription.
What is the context window of gpt-oss-20b?
131K tokens.
Is gpt-oss-20b open source?
Yes — open weights are published on Hugging Face (openai/gpt-oss-20b), with about 7.0M downloads and 4.8K likes in the last 30 days. You can self-host it or call it via DataLLM Lab.
How do I call the gpt-oss-20b API?
Point any OpenAI SDK at https://api.datallmlab.com/v1 and set model to "openai/gpt-oss-20b". One DataLLM Lab key routes this model and 300+ others; no code changes beyond the base URL and model string.
What are good alternatives to gpt-oss-20b?
Close options by price and capability include gpt-oss-120b, gpt-oss-safeguard-20b, GPT-4.1 Nano — all callable with the same DataLLM Lab key.