Claude 3 Sonnet vs O3 Mini
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
Claude 3 Sonnet
AnthropicFirst generation Sonnet. Balanced performance for general tasks.
| Input | $3.00/M |
| Output | $15.00/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | General-purpose coding and reasoning |
| Benchmark | 65/100 |
O3 Mini
OpenAIOpenAI's reasoning model at lower cost. Strong at math, coding, and science tasks.
| Input | $1.10/M |
| Output | $4.40/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | Math, science, coding tasks requiring deep reasoning |
| Benchmark | 80/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | Claude 3 Sonnet | O3 Mini | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65 | 80 | o3-mini leads by 15pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 58 | 76 | o3-mini leads by 18pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 68 | 85 | o3-mini leads by 17pts |
| HumanEval | 85 | 94 | o3-mini leads by 9pts |
| BigCodeBench | 50 | 65 | o3-mini leads by 15pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | Claude 3 Sonnet | O3 Mini | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.55 | $0.17 | O3 Mini saves $0.38 (69%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $4.05 | $1.27 | O3 Mini saves $2.78 (69%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $20.25 | $6.33 | O3 Mini saves $13.92 (69%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.90 | $0.30 | O3 Mini saves $0.60 (66%) |
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 Sonnet | 65 | $0.046/pt | Higher cost per point |
| O3 Mini | 80 | $0.014/pt | Better value |
O3 Mini delivers the best value at $0.014 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Claude 3 Sonnet
- + Reliable
- + Good value
- - Two generations behind
O3 Mini
- + Excellent at competitive programming
- + Strong algorithmic reasoning
- - Optimized for reasoning, not chat
Verdict
O3 Mini wins on both price and performance — $1.10/M input with a benchmark score of 80/100.
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 Opus
AnthropicFirst generation Opus. Highest reasoning capability in the Claude 3 family.
Claude 3 Haiku
AnthropicCheapest Claude model. Fast responses for simple tasks and basic coding.