OpenAI o1-mini vs OpenAI o3
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
OpenAI o1-mini
OpenAICost-effective reasoning model. Good for coding tasks that require logical reasoning.
| Input | $1.10/M |
| Output | $4.40/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | Coding logic, debugging, algorithm design |
| Benchmark | 70/100 |
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 | OpenAI o1-mini | OpenAI o3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 70 | 85 | o3 leads by 15pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 64 | 82 | o3 leads by 18pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 72 | 88 | o3 leads by 16pts |
| HumanEval | 90 | 96 | o3 leads by 6pts |
| BigCodeBench | 54 | 74 | o3 leads by 20pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | OpenAI o1-mini | OpenAI o3 | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.17 | $1.55 | OpenAI o1-mini saves $1.38 (89%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $1.27 | $11.50 | OpenAI o1-mini saves $10.23 (89%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $6.33 | $57.50 | OpenAI o1-mini saves $51.17 (89%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.30 | $2.75 | OpenAI o1-mini saves $2.45 (89%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI o1-mini | 70 | $0.016/pt | Better value |
| OpenAI o3 | 85 | $0.167/pt | Higher cost per point |
OpenAI o1-mini delivers the best value at $0.016 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
OpenAI o1-mini
- + Reasoning at lower cost
- + Good for competitive programming
- - Slower than standard models
OpenAI o3
- + Latest reasoning model
- + Top-tier across all benchmarks
- - Very expensive
- - Slow
Verdict
OpenAI o1-mini is cheaper at $1.10/M, but OpenAI o3 scores higher on benchmarks (85 vs 70).
Choose OpenAI o1-mini for cost-sensitive projects, OpenAI o3 when performance matters most.
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
AnthropicFirst generation Sonnet. Balanced performance for general tasks.