Qwen Turbo vs O3 Mini
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
Qwen Turbo
QwenFastest and cheapest Qwen model. Good for high-volume tasks.
| Input | $0.080/M |
| Output | $0.240/M |
| Context | 1M tokens |
| Best For | High-volume tasks, simple coding |
| Benchmark | 42/100 |
O3 Mini
OpenAIOpenAI's reasoning model at lower cost. Strong at math, coding, and science tasks.
| Input | $1.10/M |
| Output | $4.40/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | Math, science, coding tasks requiring deep reasoning |
| Benchmark | 80/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | Qwen Turbo | O3 Mini | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 42 | 80 | o3-mini leads by 38pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 35 | 76 | o3-mini leads by 41pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 44 | 85 | o3-mini leads by 41pts |
| HumanEval | 65 | 94 | o3-mini leads by 29pts |
| BigCodeBench | 28 | 65 | o3-mini leads by 37pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | Qwen Turbo | O3 Mini | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.01 | $0.17 | Qwen Turbo saves $0.16 (94%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $0.08 | $1.27 | Qwen Turbo saves $1.19 (94%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $0.38 | $6.33 | Qwen Turbo saves $5.95 (94%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.02 | $0.30 | Qwen Turbo saves $0.28 (93%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen Turbo | 42 | $0.002/pt | Better value |
| O3 Mini | 80 | $0.014/pt | Higher cost per point |
Qwen Turbo delivers the best value at $0.002 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Qwen Turbo
- + Cheapest option
- + Fast
- - Basic coding only
O3 Mini
- + Excellent at competitive programming
- + Strong algorithmic reasoning
- - Optimized for reasoning, not chat
Verdict
Qwen Turbo is cheaper at $0.080/M, but O3 Mini scores higher on benchmarks (80 vs 42).
Choose Qwen Turbo for cost-sensitive projects, O3 Mini when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
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Claude 3 Opus
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