o3 Mini vs o4-mini
o3 Mini (2025) and o4-mini (2025) are frontier-tier reasoning models from OpenAI. o3 Mini ships a 200K-token context window, while o4-mini ships a not-yet-sourced context window. On MMLU PRO, o4-mini leads by 4.1 pts. On pricing, o4-mini costs $1/1M input tokens versus $1.1/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
Pick o4-mini for general evaluation; o3 Mini is better when coding workflow support matters more.
Specs
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | o3 Mini | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $1.1/1M tokens | $1/1M tokens |
| Output price | $4.4/1M tokens | $4/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | o3 Mini | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Function calling | Yes | Yes |
| Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | Yes | Yes |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | o3 Mini | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 79.1 | 83.2 |
| Aider Polyglot | 60.4 | 72.0 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, MMLU PRO has o3 Mini at 79.1 and o4-mini at 83.2, with o4-mini ahead by 4.1 points; Aider Polyglot has o3 Mini at 60.4 and o4-mini at 72, with o4-mini ahead by 11.6 points. The largest visible gap is 11.6 points on Aider Polyglot, which matters most when that benchmark mirrors your workload. Treat isolated benchmark wins as directional, because provider routing, prompt style, and tool access can move real application results.
The capability footprint differs most on vision: o4-mini and multimodal input: o4-mini. Both models share reasoning mode, function calling, tool use, and structured outputs, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
For cost, o3 Mini lists $1.1/1M input and $4.4/1M output tokens, while o4-mini lists $1/1M input and $4/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts o4-mini lower by about $0.19 per million blended tokens. Availability is 3 providers versus 3, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose o3 Mini when coding workflow support are central to the workload. Choose o4-mini when coding workflow support and lower input-token cost are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship.
FAQ
Which is cheaper, o3 Mini or o4-mini?
o4-mini is cheaper on tracked token pricing. o3 Mini costs $1.1/1M input and $4.4/1M output tokens. o4-mini costs $1/1M input and $4/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is o3 Mini or o4-mini open source?
o3 Mini is listed under Proprietary. o4-mini is listed under Proprietary. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for vision, o3 Mini or o4-mini?
o4-mini has the clearer documented vision signal in this comparison. If vision is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ. Use this as a quick comparison signal, then confirm the provider-specific limits before committing to production.
Which is better for multimodal input, o3 Mini or o4-mini?
o4-mini has the clearer documented multimodal input signal in this comparison. If multimodal input is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for reasoning mode, o3 Mini or o4-mini?
Both o3 Mini and o4-mini expose reasoning mode. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface. Use this as a quick comparison signal, then confirm the provider-specific limits before committing to production.
Where can I run o3 Mini and o4-mini?
o3 Mini is available on OpenRouter, Azure OpenAI, and OpenAI API. o4-mini is available on OpenAI API, OpenRouter, and Replicate API. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-05-11. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.