ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

solar-mini vs o3-pro

solar-mini comes out ahead, 52 to 27 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Upstage

    solar-mini

    Released Jun 12, 2024

    52/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.15
    • Context33K
  2. OpenAI

    o3-pro

    Released Jun 10, 2025

    27/100
    • ECI147.4
    • Price$20.00 / $80.00
    • Context200K
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

solar-mini is our pick

solar-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against o3-pro (27). It leads on price. o3-pro wins on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. 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 pricesolar-minisolar-mini $0.15 · o3-pro $35.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contexto3-proo3-pro 200,000 · solar-mini 32,768 tokens
  • Widest inputso3-prosolar-mini: Text · o3-pro: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightsolar-minio3-pro
Price50%890
Inputs & features30%2570
Context window20%032
Overall100%52/10027/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. 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.

solar-mini vs o3-pro specifications side by side
Specificationsolar-miniUpstageo3-proOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—147.4
ECI rank—#60 of 148
Price per million tokens
Input$0.15 (best)$20.00
Output$0.15 (best)$80.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.15 (best)$35.00
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Upstage APIOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window32,768 tokens200,000 tokens (best)
Max output4,096 tokens100,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoYeslow · medium · high
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDsolar-minio3-pro
API providers16 (best)
ReleasedJun 12, 2024Jun 10, 2025
Knowledge cutoffSep 2024May 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.

  • solar-mini$1.80
  • o3-pro$360.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: solar-mini or o3-pro?

solar-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against o3-pro (27). It leads on price. o3-pro wins on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, solar-mini or o3-pro?

solar-mini is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Upstage API price). o3-pro costs $20.00 input / $80.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for solar-mini versus $35.00 for o3-pro (233× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. solar-mini has not been scored yet and o3-pro has an ECI of 147.4.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for solar-mini and o3-pro 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?

o3-pro has the largest context window at 200,000 tokens, against 32,768 for solar-mini. Maximum output per response: solar-mini up to 4,096, o3-pro up to 100,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

solar-mini accepts text; o3-pro accepts text and images. o3-pro handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. solar-mini and o3-pro are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

o3-pro is the newest, released Jun 10, 2025. solar-mini came out Jun 12, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: solar-mini Sep 2024, o3-pro 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.