ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

o1 vs o3-deep-research

o1 comes out ahead, 61 to 49 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    OpenAI

    o1

    Released Dec 5, 2024Deprecated

    61/100
    • ECI141.9
    • Price$15.00 / $60.00
    • Context200K
  2. OpenAI

    o3-deep-research

    Released Jun 26, 2024

    49/100
    • ECI—
    • Price—
    • Context200K
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

o1 is our pick

o1 is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against o3-deep-research (49). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

  • CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
  • Lowest priceo1o1 $26.25 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · o3-deep-research unpriced
  • Longest contextAbout the sameo1 200,000 · o3-deep-research 200,000 tokens
  • Widest inputso1o1: Text, Images, PDFs · o3-deep-research: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeighto1o3-deep-research
Inputs & features60%8060
Context window40%3232
Overall100%61/10049/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

o1 vs o3-deep-research specifications side by side
Specificationo1OpenAIo3-deep-researchOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)141.9—
ECI rank#92 of 148—
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions76.8%—
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics14.7%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics73.3%—
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions41.1%—
Price per million tokens
Input$15.00—
Output$60.00—
Cached input$7.50—
Blended (3:1)$26.25—
Long-context rateSame rate—
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI API—
Limits
Context window200,000 tokens200,000 tokens
Max output100,000 tokens100,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYeslow · medium · highYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDo1—
API providers9—
ReleasedDec 5, 2024Jun 26, 2024
Knowledge cutoffSep 2023May 2024
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • o1$270.00
  • o3-deep-research—
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: o1 or o3-deep-research?

o1 is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against o3-deep-research (49). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, o1 or o3-deep-research?

o1 is cheaper at $15.00 input / $60.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). . At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $26.25 per million tokens for o1 versus . o3-deep-research has no published per-token price.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. o1 has an ECI of 141.9 and o3-deep-research has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for o1 and o3-deep-research yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

o1 and o3-deep-research share the same 200,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: o1 up to 100,000, o3-deep-research up to 100,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

o1 accepts text, images and PDFs; o3-deep-research accepts text and images. o1 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. o1 and o3-deep-research are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

o1 is the newest, released Dec 5, 2024. o3-deep-research came out Jun 26, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: o1 Sep 2023, o3-deep-research May 2024.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.