OpenAI o3 vs Qwen Plus
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 |
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 | Qwen Plus | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 85 | 55 | o3 leads by 30pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 82 | 48 | o3 leads by 34pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 88 | 58 | o3 leads by 30pts |
| HumanEval | 96 | 78 | o3 leads by 18pts |
| BigCodeBench | 74 | 40 | o3 leads by 34pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | OpenAI o3 | Qwen Plus | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $1.55 | $0.05 | Qwen Plus saves $1.50 (97%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $11.50 | $0.38 | Qwen Plus saves $11.12 (97%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $57.50 | $1.90 | Qwen Plus saves $55.60 (97%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $2.75 | $0.10 | Qwen Plus saves $2.65 (96%) |
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 | 85 | $0.167/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
- + Latest reasoning model
- + Top-tier across all benchmarks
- - Very expensive
- - Slow
Qwen Plus
- + Budget-friendly
- - Average performance
Verdict
Qwen Plus is cheaper at $0.400/M, but OpenAI o3 scores higher on benchmarks (85 vs 55).
Choose Qwen Plus for cost-sensitive projects, OpenAI o3 when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
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