GPT-3.5 Turbo vs o3-mini Comparison

Comparing GPT-3.5 Turbo and o3-mini across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

4 benchmarks

GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while o3-mini is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH, MGSM, MMLU).

o3-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Mar 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

GPT-3.5 Turbo costs less

For input processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($0.50/1M tokens) is 2.2x cheaper than o3-mini ($1.10/1M tokens).

For output processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($1.50/1M tokens) is 2.9x cheaper than o3-mini ($4.40/1M tokens).

In conclusion, o3-mini is more expensive than GPT-3.5 Turbo.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers

Wed Mar 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Input tokens$0.50

Output tokens$1.50

Best providerAzure

o3-mini

Input tokens$1.10

Output tokens$4.40

Best providerAzure

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Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

o3-mini accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo's 16,385 tokens. o3-mini can generate longer responses up to 100,000 tokens, while GPT-3.5 Turbo is limited to 4,096 tokens.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Input16,385 tokens

Output4,096 tokens

o3-mini

Input200,000 tokens

Output100,000 tokens

Wed Mar 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

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

o3-mini

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21, while o3-mini was released on 2025-01-30.

o3-mini is 23 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Mar 21, 2023

3.0 years ago

o3-mini

Jan 30, 2025

1.1 years ago

1.9yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-3.5 Turbo has a knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while o3-mini has a cutoff of 2023-09-30.

o3-mini has more recent training data (up to 2023-09-30), 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

o3-mini

Sep 2023

2 yr newer

Provider Availability

GPT-3.5 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI. o3-mini is available from Azure, OpenAI. The availability of providers can affect quality of the model and reliability.