# OpenAI GPT-4o mini Transcribe (2025-03-20) — deprecation status

> Yes — OpenAI deprecated GPT-4o mini Transcribe (2025-03-20) on July 20, 2026 and shuts it down on January 20, 2027 (in 170 days). The recommended replacement is GPT-4o mini Transcribe (2025-12-15).

The March 2025 snapshot of OpenAI's small speech-to-text model, and the first thing to beat Whisper on word error rate on OpenAI's own API. It is the only transcription id in the July 2026 legacy-audio deprecation: the floating gpt-4o-mini-transcribe slug moved to the December snapshot, and this pinned one is what stops answering.

## Facts

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Provider | OpenAI |
| Model id | `gpt-4o-mini-transcribe-2025-03-20` |
| Status | Deprecated |
| Deprecated | July 20, 2026 |
| Shutdown | January 20, 2027 (in 170 days) |
| Last verified | August 3, 2026 |

## Replacement

- **GPT-4o mini Transcribe (2025-12-15)** (`gpt-4o-mini-transcribe-2025-12-15`) · recommended — https://modeldeprecations.dev/openai/gpt-4o-mini-transcribe-2025-12-15
  - If your code says gpt-4o-mini-transcribe without a date you are already on the December snapshot and nothing breaks. Only the pinned March string is going away.
  - Parameters it accepts: https://modelparams.dev/models/openai/gpt-4o-mini-transcribe-2025-12-15

```diff
- "model": "gpt-4o-mini-transcribe-2025-03-20"
+ "model": "gpt-4o-mini-transcribe-2025-12-15"
```

## FAQ

### When will OpenAI GPT-4o mini Transcribe (2025-03-20) shut down?

OpenAI GPT-4o mini Transcribe (2025-03-20) is scheduled to shut down on January 20, 2027, in 170 days.

### What replaces OpenAI GPT-4o mini Transcribe (2025-03-20)?

OpenAI recommends GPT-4o mini Transcribe (2025-12-15) (`gpt-4o-mini-transcribe-2025-12-15`) as the replacement for OpenAI GPT-4o mini Transcribe (2025-03-20). If your code says gpt-4o-mini-transcribe without a date you are already on the December snapshot and nothing breaks. Only the pinned March string is going away.

### Is OpenAI GPT-4o mini Transcribe (2025-03-20) still available?

Yes, for now. OpenAI GPT-4o mini Transcribe (2025-03-20) is deprecated but still answers requests until January 20, 2027. Deprecated models get no further updates and are the first to lose capacity.

### How do I migrate from OpenAI GPT-4o mini Transcribe (2025-03-20) to gpt-4o-mini-transcribe-2025-12-15?

Swap the model id in your API call: replace "gpt-4o-mini-transcribe-2025-03-20" with "gpt-4o-mini-transcribe-2025-12-15". If your code says gpt-4o-mini-transcribe without a date you are already on the December snapshot and nothing breaks. Only the pinned March string is going away.

## Sources

- [OpenAI deprecations](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/deprecations) — accessed 2026-08-03

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Canonical page: https://modeldeprecations.dev/openai/gpt-4o-mini-transcribe-2025-03-20
JSON: https://modeldeprecations.dev/api/v1/models/openai/gpt-4o-mini-transcribe-2025-03-20.json