Claude 3 Opus vs OpenAI o4-mini
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 o4-mini
OpenAIUpdated mini reasoning model. Similar pricing to o3-mini with updated capabilities.
| Input | $1.10/M |
| Output | $4.40/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | General reasoning, coding tasks |
| Benchmark | 72/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | Claude 3 Opus | OpenAI o4-mini | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 78 | 72 | Claude 3 Opus leads by 6pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 74 | 66 | Claude 3 Opus leads by 8pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 80 | 74 | Claude 3 Opus leads by 6pts |
| HumanEval | 94 | 92 | Claude 3 Opus leads by 2pts |
| BigCodeBench | 64 | 56 | Claude 3 Opus leads by 8pts |
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 o4-mini | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $2.77 | $0.17 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $2.60 (94%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $20.25 | $1.27 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $18.98 (94%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $101.25 | $6.33 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $94.92 (94%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $4.50 | $0.30 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $4.20 (93%) |
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 o4-mini | 72 | $0.015/pt | Better value |
OpenAI o4-mini delivers the best value at $0.015 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Claude 3 Opus
- + Strong reasoning
- + Proven track record
- - Older generation
- - Expensive
OpenAI o4-mini
- + Improved reasoning at mini price
- - New model, limited data
Verdict
OpenAI o4-mini is cheaper at $1.10/M, but Claude 3 Opus scores higher on benchmarks (78 vs 72).
Choose OpenAI o4-mini for cost-sensitive projects, Claude 3 Opus when performance matters most.
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.