o3 vs GPT-4o mini
Pricing, context window, and benchmark comparison · Last updated April 2026
GPT-4o mini is cheaper than o3 at $0.15/1M/1M vs $10.00/1M/1M input tokens — a 66.7x cost difference. o3 scores higher on quality benchmarks (ELO 1380). Choose GPT-4o mini for cost-sensitive workloads; choose o3 for maximum quality.
Which is cheaper: o3 or GPT-4o mini?
GPT-4o mini is the cheaper option at $0.15/1M per 1M input tokens, compared to $10.00/1M for o3. That is a 66.7x cost difference on input tokens. Output pricing follows a similar pattern: o3 charges $40.00/1M/1M vs $0.60/1M/1M for GPT-4o mini.
Which has better quality: o3 or GPT-4o mini?
Based on LMSYS Chatbot Arena rankings, o3 achieves a higher ELO score (1380 vs 1272), suggesting stronger performance on open-ended tasks. o3 excels at highest reasoning benchmark scores of any model. GPT-4o mini is known for extremely low cost — cheapest flagship-family model.
Which should you choose: o3 or GPT-4o mini?
- → Highest reasoning benchmark scores of any model
- → Better cost-efficiency than o1 at similar quality
- → Superior at agentic and multi-step tasks
- → Extremely low cost — cheapest flagship-family model
- → Fast inference
- → Good at structured data extraction
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper: o3 or GPT-4o mini?
GPT-4o mini is cheaper at $0.15/1M per 1M input tokens, making it 66.7x more affordable.
Which has better quality: o3 or GPT-4o mini?
o3 scores higher on the LMSYS Chatbot Arena with an ELO of 1380, suggesting better overall quality for most tasks.
Which has a larger context window: o3 or GPT-4o mini?
o3 has a larger context window at 200K tokens.
Should I choose o3 or GPT-4o mini?
Choose GPT-4o mini if cost is the priority. Choose o3 if benchmark quality is most important. Consider your specific use case: o3 is best for reasoning and math, while GPT-4o mini excels at customer-support and data-extraction.
Is o3 or GPT-4o mini open source?
o3 is proprietary. GPT-4o mini is proprietary.