Pricing comparison
GPT-4o mini vs o3
Per-token pricing, full-workload cost ladders, and monthly volume projections. Numbers sourced directly from each provider's rate card.
OpenAI
GPT-4o mini
- Input
- $0.15 / 1M
- Output
- $0.60 / 1M
- Cached input
- $0.075 / 1M
- Context
- 128K
- Max output
- 16K
OpenAI
o3
- Input
- $2.00 / 1M
- Output
- $8.00 / 1M
- Cached input
- $0.500 / 1M
- Context
- 200K
- Max output
- 100K
Cost per request
Four common workload shapes, input tokens and a 1:2 output ratio (a standard chat/completion pattern). Long-context surcharges apply automatically where the provider charges them.
| Scenario | Tokens (in / out) | GPT-4o mini | o3 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short prompt | 100 / 200 | $0.0001 | $0.0018 | GPT-4o mini |
| Typical request | 1,000 / 2,000 | $0.0013 | $0.0180 | GPT-4o mini |
| Long document | 10,000 / 5,000 | $0.0045 | $0.0600 | GPT-4o mini |
| Large prompt | 100,000 / 10,000 | $0.0210 | $0.2800 | GPT-4o mini |
Monthly bill at scale
Projected monthly cost at typical request volume, assuming the "typical request" shape above (1k in, 2k out).
| Traffic | Req / month | GPT-4o mini | o3 | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small SaaS | 1,000 | $1.35 | $18.00 | GPT-4o mini -$16.65 |
| Growing product | 10,000 | $13.50 | $180.00 | GPT-4o mini -$166.50 |
| Heavy usage | 100,000 | $135.00 | $1,800 | GPT-4o mini -$1,665 |
Which should you use?
For the typical chat-shape request (~1k input, 2k output), GPT-4o mini comes out 1233% cheaper. If you're picking one as the default, that's usually the right choice on cost alone.
GPT-4o mini wins on both sides of the bill - cheaper input and cheaper output. If the quality gap is in your favour, there's no cost argument for the other side.
Context window differs: o3 holds 200K of input vs 128K on the other side. If you regularly push past the smaller ceiling, the comparison ends there.
Live cost calculator
Type in any token counts - both prices update instantly. Uses base input/output rates (no cache discount, no long-context tier).
GPT-4o mini
$0.0004
per request
o3
$0.0060
per request
Try both in the estimator →
Drop your actual prompt in, tokens are counted with the provider's own tokenizer, and the dollar number matches what lands on your invoice.
Frequently asked
- Which is cheaper, GPT-4o mini or o3?
- On a typical 1,000-input / 2,000-output request, GPT-4o mini costs ~$0.0013 vs ~$0.0180 on o3. Input or output rates can flip the answer for very lopsided workloads - see the cost ladder above.
- What's the difference in per-token pricing?
- GPT-4o mini charges $0.15 per 1M input tokens and $0.60 per 1M output tokens. o3 charges $2.00 / $8.00 per 1M.
- Which has the bigger context window?
- o3 is larger (200K) vs 128K on the other.
- Is there a cached-input discount on either?
- GPT-4o mini caches at $0.075 per 1M (50% off). o3 caches at $0.500 per 1M (75% off). Workloads with repeated static prefixes see the biggest savings.
- How fresh is this comparison?
- GPT-4o mini was re-verified on 2026-04-06 and o3 on 2026-04-06 against each provider's published rate card. Calcis re-checks every row on a rolling schedule and re-deploys when a provider changes pricing.
GPT-4o mini verified 2026-04-06 · o3 verified 2026-04-06. Rate cards at OpenAI and OpenAI.