Model Comparison

GPT-3.5 Turbo vs GPT-4o mini

GPT-4o mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GPT-4o mini is 2.9x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

8 benchmarks

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.

Thu Mar 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

GPT-4o mini costs less

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Thu Mar 26 2026 • llm-stats.com
OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Input tokens$0.50
Output tokens$1.50
Best providerAzure
OpenAI
GPT-4o mini
Input tokens$0.15
Output tokens$0.60
Best providerAzure
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

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.

OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Input16,385 tokens
Output4,096 tokens
OpenAI
GPT-4o mini
Input128,000 tokens
Output16,384 tokens
Thu Mar 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

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

Text
Images
Audio
Video

GPT-4o mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.

Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Proprietary

Closed source

GPT-4o mini

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.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Mar 21, 2023

3.0 years ago

GPT-4o mini

Jul 18, 2024

1.7 years ago

1.3yr newer

Knowledge 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).

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Sep 2021

GPT-4o mini

Oct 2023

2.1 yr newer

Provider Availability

GPT-3.5 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI. GPT-4o mini is available from Azure.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

azure logo
Azure
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M
openai logo
OpenAI
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M

GPT-4o mini

azure logo
Azure
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

OpenAI
OpenAI
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Higher DROP score (79.7% vs 70.2%)
Higher GPQA score (40.2% vs 30.8%)
Higher HumanEval score (87.2% vs 68.0%)
Higher MATH score (70.2% vs 43.1%)
Higher MathVista score (56.7% vs 0.0%)
Higher MGSM score (87.0% vs 56.3%)
Higher MMLU score (82.0% vs 69.8%)
Higher MMMU score (59.4% vs 0.0%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
OpenAI
GPT-4o mini

FAQ

Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs GPT-4o mini

GPT-4o mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GPT-3.5 Turbo is made by OpenAI and GPT-4o mini is made by OpenAI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.
GPT-3.5 Turbo scores DROP: 70.2%, MMLU: 69.8%, HumanEval: 68.0%, MGSM: 56.3%, MATH: 43.1%. GPT-4o mini scores HumanEval: 87.2%, MGSM: 87.0%, MMLU: 82.0%, DROP: 79.7%, MATH: 70.2%.
GPT-4o mini is 3.3x cheaper for input tokens. GPT-3.5 Turbo costs $0.50/M input and $1.50/M output via azure. GPT-4o mini costs $0.15/M input and $0.60/M output via azure.
GPT-3.5 Turbo supports 16K tokens and GPT-4o mini supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.
Key differences include context window (16K vs 128K), input pricing ($0.50 vs $0.15/M), multimodal support (no vs yes). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.