Model Comparison
o3-mini vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-ThinkingWhich is better in 2026?
Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is 3.9x cheaper per token.
Verdict: o3-mini vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking — which is better?
o3-mini (by OpenAI) and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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.
o3-mini outperforms in 2 benchmarks (IFEval, Multi-IF), while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is better at 2 benchmarks (TAU-bench Airline, TAU-bench Retail). Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.
On price, Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is roughly 3.9x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
o3-mini also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose o3-mini if…
- you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
Choose Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 5 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 3.9x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
o3-mini outperforms in 2 benchmarks (IFEval, Multi-IF), while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is better at 2 benchmarks (TAU-bench Airline, TAU-bench Retail).
Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, o3-mini ($1.10/1M tokens) is 7.3x more expensive than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking ($0.15/1M tokens).
For output processing, o3-mini ($4.40/1M tokens) is 2.9x more expensive than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking ($1.50/1M tokens).
In conclusion, o3-mini is more expensive than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
o3-mini accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking's 65,536 tokens. o3-mini can generate longer responses up to 100,000 tokens, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is limited to 65,536 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
o3-mini is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
o3-mini was released on 2025-01-30, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking was released on 2025-09-10.
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is 7 months newer than o3-mini.
Jan 30, 2025
1.4 years ago
Sep 10, 2025
9 months ago
7mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
o3-mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-09-30, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking'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 Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking's cutoff date.
Sep 2023
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Provider Availability
o3-mini is available from Azure, OpenAI. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is available from Novita.
o3-mini
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
o3-mini
View detailsOpenAI
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about o3-mini vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking.