Model Comparison
GPT-3.5 Turbo vs GPT-4o miniWhich is better in 2026?
GPT-4o mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GPT-4o mini is 2.9x cheaper per token.
Verdict: GPT-3.5 Turbo vs GPT-4o mini — which is better?
GPT-3.5 Turbo (by OpenAI) and GPT-4o mini (by OpenAI) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while GPT-4o mini is better at 8 benchmarks (DROP, GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MathVista, MGSM, MMLU, MMMU). GPT-4o mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, GPT-4o mini is roughly 2.9x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
GPT-4o mini also accepts a larger context window (128,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose GPT-3.5 Turbo if…
- you want predictable pricing at $0.50/M input and $1.50/M output
Choose GPT-4o mini if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 8 of 8 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 2.9x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 128,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2024
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while GPT-4o mini is better at 8 benchmarks (DROP, GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MathVista, MGSM, MMLU, MMMU).
GPT-4o mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($0.50/1M tokens) is 3.3x more expensive than GPT-4o mini ($0.15/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($1.50/1M tokens) is 2.5x more expensive than GPT-4o mini ($0.60/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GPT-3.5 Turbo is more expensive than GPT-4o mini.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
GPT-4o mini accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo's 16,385 tokens. GPT-4o mini can generate longer responses up to 16,384 tokens, while GPT-3.5 Turbo is limited to 4,096 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
GPT-4o mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas GPT-3.5 Turbo does not.
GPT-4o mini can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
GPT-3.5 Turbo
GPT-4o 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
GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21, while GPT-4o mini was released on 2024-07-18.
GPT-4o mini is 16 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.
Mar 21, 2023
3.3 years ago
Jul 18, 2024
2.0 years ago
1.3yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-3.5 Turbo has a knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while GPT-4o mini has a cutoff of 2023-10-01.
GPT-4o mini has more recent training data (up to 2023-10-01), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo (2021-09-30).
Sep 2021
Oct 2023
2.1 yr newerProvider Availability
GPT-3.5 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI. GPT-4o mini is available from Azure.
GPT-3.5 Turbo
GPT-4o mini
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.
GPT-4o mini
View detailsOpenAI
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GPT-3.5 Turbo and GPT-4o mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs GPT-4o mini.