o4-mini-deep-research vs o3-mini
o4-mini-deep-research comes out ahead, 49 to 40 on our weighted score.
- Our pick
OpenAIo4-mini-deep-research
49/100- ECI—
- Price—
- Context200K
- OpenAI
o3-mini
40/100- ECI140.3
- Price$1.10 / $4.40
- Context200K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
o4-mini-deep-research is our pick
o4-mini-deep-research is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against o3-mini (40). 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 priceo3-minio3-mini $1.93 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · o4-mini-deep-research unpriced
- Longest contextAbout the sameo4-mini-deep-research 200,000 · o3-mini 200,000 tokens
- Widest inputso4-mini-deep-researcho4-mini-deep-research: Text, Images · o3-mini: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | o4-mini-deep-research | o3-mini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs & features | 60% | 60 | 45 |
| Context window | 40% | 32 | 32 |
| Overall | 100% | 49/100 | 40/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | o4-mini-deep-researchOpenAI | o3-miniOpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | 140.3 |
| ECI rank | — | #98 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 77.0% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | — | 18.6% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 76.9% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | — | 15.3% |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | — | $1.10 |
| Output | — | $4.40 |
| Cached input | — | $0.55 |
| Blended (3:1) | — | $1.93 |
| Long-context rate | — | Same rate |
| Price source | — | Official OpenAI API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 200,000 tokens | 200,000 tokens |
| Max output | 100,000 tokens | 100,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | o3-mini |
| API providers | — | 15 |
| Released | Jun 26, 2024 | Jan 31, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | May 2024 | May 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- o4-mini-deep-research—
- o3-mini$19.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: o4-mini-deep-research or o3-mini?
o4-mini-deep-research is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against o3-mini (40). 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, o4-mini-deep-research or o3-mini?
o3-mini is cheaper at $1.10 input / $4.40 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). . At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.93 per million tokens for o3-mini versus . o4-mini-deep-research has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. o4-mini-deep-research has not been scored yet and o3-mini has an ECI of 140.3.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for o4-mini-deep-research and o3-mini 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?
o4-mini-deep-research and o3-mini share the same 200,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: o4-mini-deep-research up to 100,000, o3-mini up to 100,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
o4-mini-deep-research accepts text and images; o3-mini accepts text. o4-mini-deep-research handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. o4-mini-deep-research and o3-mini are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
o3-mini is the newest, released Jan 31, 2025. o4-mini-deep-research came out Jun 26, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: o4-mini-deep-research May 2024, o3-mini 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.
