GPT-3.5 Turbo vs O1 Preview
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
GPT-3.5 Turbo
OpenAIBudget model for simple tasks. Being phased out but still widely used.
| Input | $0.500/M |
| Output | $1.50/M |
| Context | 16K tokens |
| Best For | Simple chatbots, basic text generation |
| Benchmark | 40/100 |
O1 Preview
OpenAIOpenAI's first reasoning model. Strong at complex problem solving but expensive.
| Input | $15.00/M |
| Output | $60.00/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | Complex math, science, algorithm design |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | GPT-3.5 Turbo | O1 Preview | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.06 | $2.32 | GPT-3.5 Turbo saves $2.26 (97%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $0.48 | $17.25 | GPT-3.5 Turbo saves $16.77 (97%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $2.38 | $86.25 | GPT-3.5 Turbo saves $83.88 (97%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.13 | $4.13 | GPT-3.5 Turbo saves $4.00 (97%) |
Verdict
GPT-3.5 Turbo wins on both price and performance — $0.500/M input with a benchmark score of N/A/100.
For most developers, this is the clear choice between these two models.
Compare with Other Models
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Claude Opus 4
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Claude 3.5 Sonnet
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Claude 3.5 Haiku
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Claude 3 Opus
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Claude 3 Sonnet
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