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Large Language Models

Starburst can use several different large language models to generate responses. By default, the following models are available in Starburst:

Model	Avg cost per 100 queries	Average response time	Notes
Google Gemini 3 Flash Preview	US$0.50	8 seconds	(Recommended) The best Google model for most cases. It compares well on cost, speed, and response quality to the recommended OpenAI model.
OpenAI GPT-5.4 mini	US$0.70	5 seconds	(Recommended) The best OpenAI model for most cases. High quality responses at a high speed.
OpenAI GPT-5.4 nano	US$0.20	7 seconds	A step down in quality from GPT-5.4 mini, but it will still provide reasonable, useful responses in most cases.
OpenAI GPT-4.1 nano	US$0.05	2 seconds	The lowest-cost and fastest of these options. It can provide accurate, helpful responses in a wide variety of simple applications, but it will be noticeably less accurate in more complex or less common topics and may exhibit less fluency in languages other than English. A good choice only if cost is the most important factor.

Not recommended

For comparison, here are a few OpenAI and Google models that are high-quality but whose cost and/or speed make them poor choices.

These models will produce some of the highest quality responses available, but the improvement over the recommended models above will be relatively small, especially relative to their substantially slower generation and higher costs.

They are not provided as options by default, but you can always configure one as a custom model for your own classes if you want to try it.

Model	Avg cost per 100 queries	Average response time
Google Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview	US$2	very slow
OpenAI GPT-5.4 (no reasoning)	US$2	14 seconds
OpenAI GPT-5.4 (reasoning enabled)	US$3+	very slow