OpenAI o3-mini vs Qwen Plus
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
OpenAI o3-mini
OpenAIAffordable reasoning model for coding tasks. Best price-performance for algorithm-heavy work.
| Input | $1.10/M |
| Output | $4.40/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | Algorithm design, coding challenges, debugging |
| Benchmark | 80/100 |
Qwen Plus
QwenBalanced Qwen model for general tasks. Good price-performance ratio.
| Input | $0.400/M |
| Output | $1.20/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | General-purpose tasks, bilingual coding |
| Benchmark | 55/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | OpenAI o3-mini | Qwen Plus | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 80 | 55 | o3-mini leads by 25pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 76 | 48 | o3-mini leads by 28pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 85 | 58 | o3-mini leads by 27pts |
| HumanEval | 94 | 78 | o3-mini leads by 16pts |
| BigCodeBench | 65 | 40 | o3-mini leads by 25pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | OpenAI o3-mini | Qwen Plus | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.17 | $0.05 | Qwen Plus saves $0.12 (71%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $1.27 | $0.38 | Qwen Plus saves $0.89 (70%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $6.33 | $1.90 | Qwen Plus saves $4.43 (70%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.30 | $0.10 | Qwen Plus saves $0.20 (67%) |
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 o3-mini | 80 | $0.014/pt | Higher cost per point |
| Qwen Plus | 55 | $0.007/pt | Better value |
Qwen Plus delivers the best value at $0.007 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
OpenAI o3-mini
- + Excellent at competitive programming
- + Strong algorithmic reasoning
- - Optimized for reasoning, not chat
Qwen Plus
- + Budget-friendly
- - Average performance
Verdict
Qwen Plus is cheaper at $0.400/M, but OpenAI o3-mini scores higher on benchmarks (80 vs 55).
Choose Qwen Plus for cost-sensitive projects, OpenAI o3-mini when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
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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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