Claude 3 Opus vs OpenAI o3
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
Claude 3 Opus
AnthropicFirst generation Opus. Highest reasoning capability in the Claude 3 family.
| Input | $15.00/M |
| Output | $75.00/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | Deep analysis, complex coding tasks |
| Benchmark | 78/100 |
OpenAI o3
OpenAINext generation reasoning model. Improved coding and math over o1.
| Input | $10.00/M |
| Output | $40.00/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | Advanced coding, complex problem-solving |
| Benchmark | 85/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | Claude 3 Opus | OpenAI o3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 78 | 85 | o3 leads by 7pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 74 | 82 | o3 leads by 8pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 80 | 88 | o3 leads by 8pts |
| HumanEval | 94 | 96 | o3 leads by 2pts |
| BigCodeBench | 64 | 74 | o3 leads by 10pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | Claude 3 Opus | OpenAI o3 | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $2.77 | $1.55 | OpenAI o3 saves $1.22 (44%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $20.25 | $11.50 | OpenAI o3 saves $8.75 (43%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $101.25 | $57.50 | OpenAI o3 saves $43.75 (43%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $4.50 | $2.75 | OpenAI o3 saves $1.75 (39%) |
Value Analysis (Price per Benchmark Score Point)
Lower is better — how much you pay for each point of benchmark performance.
| Model | Overall Score | Price per Score Point | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude 3 Opus | 78 | $0.192/pt | Higher cost per point |
| OpenAI o3 | 85 | $0.167/pt | Better value |
OpenAI o3 delivers the best value at $0.167 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Claude 3 Opus
- + Strong reasoning
- + Proven track record
- - Older generation
- - Expensive
OpenAI o3
- + Latest reasoning model
- + Top-tier across all benchmarks
- - Very expensive
- - Slow
Verdict
OpenAI o3 wins on both price and performance — $10.00/M input with a benchmark score of 85/100.
For most developers, this is the clear choice between these two models.
Compare with Other Models
Claude Sonnet 4
AnthropicAnthropic's balanced model for coding and general tasks. Best price-performance ratio in the Claude family.
Claude Opus 4
AnthropicAnthropic's most powerful model. Best for complex reasoning and challenging coding tasks.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
AnthropicPrevious generation Sonnet. Still excellent for coding tasks at the same price point.
Claude 3.5 Haiku
AnthropicFast, cost-effective model for high-volume tasks. Great for code review and simple queries.
Claude 3 Sonnet
AnthropicFirst generation Sonnet. Balanced performance for general tasks.
Claude 3 Haiku
AnthropicCheapest Claude model. Fast responses for simple tasks and basic coding.