Research Preview, Beta and GA: What AI Release Stages Mean
Updated
AI companies ship features in stages, and the label on a release tells you how much to rely on it. A research preview can change next week; a generally available feature comes with the provider's normal support and notice periods.
The stages, from earliest to most stable
Research preview: an early version released to learn how people use it. Expect limits on access, usage caps and changes without much warning. Some research previews never become products.
Alpha or private beta: available to selected customers, often by application or waitlist. Interfaces can still change.
Beta or public preview: open to everyone who opts in, usually behind a beta header, a settings toggle or a separate model id. The shape is mostly settled, but pricing, limits and details can still change, and service commitments often do not apply yet.
General availability (GA): the stable release. It is covered by the provider's usual terms, pricing is published, and breaking changes come with notice.
Deprecation and retirement
The end of a model or feature also comes in stages. Deprecated means it still works but has a shutdown date, and you should move to the suggested replacement. Retired (sometimes called sunset or shut down) means requests fail. Labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic publish deprecation pages with these dates, and providers usually give months of notice for generally available models.
How the same feature moves through stages
A single feature can show up on a company page several times: once when the research preview opens, again when it reaches beta, and again at GA. Each one is a separate release because each changes who can use it and on what terms. When the dates are close together, the later entry usually notes what changed from the earlier one.
Spotting the stage in a release
Look for the words preview, beta, experimental, limited or waitlist in the title or description, a beta header or flag in developer docs, or a model id ending in preview or exp. A release that says now available to all users, out of preview or generally available marks the GA step. On this site the stage is kept in the release title or description, so searching a company page for beta or GA finds them.
What this means if you build on it
Prototype on previews, but put generally available models and features in production, pin dated model ids where the provider offers them, and watch the deprecation dates for anything you depend on. The company pages here list deprecations alongside launches, so the month you plan around shows both.