GPT-5 vs o3
GPT-5 and o3 are closely matched at 33.8 and 31.1 on the LLM Stats Score. GPT-5 is 1.0x cheaper per token.
OpenAI · OpenAI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
GPT-5 and o3 are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 33.8 and 31.1.
In the 17 individual benchmarks reported for both models, GPT-5 wins 16; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
GPT-5 also accepts a larger context window (400,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose GPT-5
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 16 of 17 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 400,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2025
Choose o3
- you want predictable pricing at $2.00/M input and $8.00/M output
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
34 reported for GPT-5 · 22 for o3
GPT-5 outperforms in 16 benchmarks (Aider-Polyglot, AIME 2025, BrowseComp, CharXiv-R, COLLIE, ERQA, FrontierMath, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, MMMU, MMMU-Pro, Multi-Challenge, SWE-Bench Verified, Tau2 Retail, Tau2 Telecom, VideoMMMU), while o3 is better at 1 benchmark (Tau2 Airline).
GPT-5 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, GPT-5 ($1.25/1M tokens) is 1.6x cheaper than o3 ($2.00/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-5 ($10.00/1M tokens) is 1.3x more expensive than o3 ($8.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, o3 is more expensive than GPT-5.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
GPT-5 accepts 400,000 input tokens compared to o3's 200,000 tokens. GPT-5 can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while o3 is limited to 100,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both GPT-5 and o3 support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
GPT-5
o3
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-5 was released on 2025-08-07, while o3 was released on 2025-04-16.
GPT-5 is 4 months newer than o3.
Aug 7, 2025
1.1 years ago
3mo newerApr 16, 2025
1.4 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-5 has a knowledge cutoff of 2024-09-30, while o3 has a cutoff of 2024-05-31.
GPT-5 has more recent training data (up to 2024-09-30), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to o3 (2024-05-31).
Sep 2024
4 mo newerMay 2024
Provider Availability
GPT-5 is available from OpenAI. o3 is available from OpenAI.
GPT-5
o3
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GPT-5 and o3 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about GPT-5 vs o3.