# OpenAI o3-mini — deprecation status

> Yes — OpenAI deprecated o3-mini on April 22, 2026 and shuts it down on October 23, 2026 (in 85 days). The recommended replacement is GPT-5.6 Sol.

The reasoning model that was cheap enough to use by default, and for much of 2025 the best value on the platform for anything involving maths or code. It is deprecated with an October 2026 shutdown.

## Facts

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Provider | OpenAI |
| Model id | `o3-mini` |
| Status | Deprecated |
| Aliases | `o3-mini-2025-01-31` |
| Released | January 31, 2025 |
| Deprecated | April 22, 2026 |
| Shutdown | October 23, 2026 (in 85 days) |
| Last verified | July 30, 2026 |

## Replacement

- **GPT-5.6 Sol** (`gpt-5.6-sol`) · recommended — https://modeldeprecations.dev/openai/gpt-5.6-sol
  - reasoning_effort carries over directly. If o3-mini was chosen for price rather than capability, compare Terra as well before defaulting to Sol.
  - Parameters it accepts: https://modelparams.dev/models/openai/gpt-5.6-sol

```diff
- "model": "o3-mini"
+ "model": "gpt-5.6-sol"
```

## FAQ

### When will OpenAI o3-mini shut down?

OpenAI o3-mini is scheduled to shut down on October 23, 2026, in 85 days.

### What replaces OpenAI o3-mini?

OpenAI recommends GPT-5.6 Sol (`gpt-5.6-sol`) as the replacement for OpenAI o3-mini. reasoning_effort carries over directly. If o3-mini was chosen for price rather than capability, compare Terra as well before defaulting to Sol.

### Is OpenAI o3-mini still available?

Yes, for now. OpenAI o3-mini is deprecated but still answers requests until October 23, 2026. Deprecated models get no further updates and are the first to lose capacity.

### How do I migrate from OpenAI o3-mini to gpt-5.6-sol?

Swap the model id in your API call: replace "o3-mini" with "gpt-5.6-sol". reasoning_effort carries over directly. If o3-mini was chosen for price rather than capability, compare Terra as well before defaulting to Sol.

### Does this apply to o3-mini-2025-01-31 too?

Yes. OpenAI o3-mini is also published as `o3-mini-2025-01-31`; that id shares the same lifecycle dates as `o3-mini`.

## Sources

- [OpenAI API deprecations](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/deprecations) — accessed 2026-07-30

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Canonical page: https://modeldeprecations.dev/openai/o3-mini
JSON: https://modeldeprecations.dev/api/v1/models/openai/o3-mini.json