Claude 3 Opus vs o3-mini
o3-mini leads the LLM Stats Score 21.8 to 10.4. o3-mini is 15.6x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · OpenAI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
o3-mini leads the overall LLM Stats Score 21.8 to 10.4, ranking #169 overall.
In the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models, o3-mini wins 4; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, o3-mini is roughly 15.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude 3 Opus
- you want predictable pricing at $15.00/M input and $75.00/M output
Choose o3-mini
- overall performance matters — it scores 21.8 and ranks #169 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 4 of 4 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 15.6x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jan 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
11 reported for Claude 3 Opus · 25 for o3-mini
Claude 3 Opus outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while o3-mini is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH, MGSM, MMLU).
o3-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude 3 Opus ($15.00/1M tokens) is 13.6x more expensive than o3-mini ($1.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude 3 Opus ($75.00/1M tokens) is 17.0x more expensive than o3-mini ($4.40/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude 3 Opus is more expensive than o3-mini.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 200,000 tokens. Claude 3 Opus can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while o3-mini is limited to 100,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Claude 3 Opus supports multimodal inputs, whereas o3-mini does not.
Claude 3 Opus can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Claude 3 Opus
o3-mini
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.
Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.
Proprietary
Closed source
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude 3 Opus was released on 2024-02-29, while o3-mini was released on 2025-01-30.
o3-mini is 11 months newer than Claude 3 Opus.
Feb 29, 2024
2.5 years ago
Jan 30, 2025
1.6 years ago
11mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
o3-mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-09-30, while Claude 3 Opus's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm o3-mini's training data extends to 2023-09-30, but cannot make a direct comparison without Claude 3 Opus's cutoff date.
—
Sep 2023
Provider Availability
Claude 3 Opus is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. o3-mini is available from Azure, OpenAI.
Claude 3 Opus
o3-mini
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude 3 Opus and o3-mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude 3 Opus vs o3-mini.