OpenAI o3 vs Phi-3 Mini
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
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 |
Phi-3 Mini
MicrosoftMicrosoft's compact Phi-3 model. Small but capable model for edge and IoT deployment.
| Input | $0.050/M |
| Output | $0.100/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | Edge AI, IoT devices, lightweight applications |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | OpenAI o3 | Phi-3 Mini | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $1.55 | <$0.01 | Phi-3 Mini saves $1.55 (100%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $11.50 | $0.04 | Phi-3 Mini saves $11.46 (100%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $57.50 | $0.19 | Phi-3 Mini saves $57.31 (100%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $2.75 | $0.01 | Phi-3 Mini saves $2.74 (100%) |
Verdict
Phi-3 Mini wins on both price and performance — $0.050/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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