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Head-to-head comparison

GPT-4 Turbo vs o3

GPT-4 Turbo (OpenAI) and o3 (OpenAI) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 22 September 2026

As of 22 September 2026, o3 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#53 vs #171); o3 is 3.8× cheaper per output token ($8.00/1M vs $30.00/1M); and o3 offers the longer context window (200K vs 128K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose GPT-4 Turbo if…

  • ModelCap publishes no field on which GPT-4 Turbo leads o3 for this pair.

Choose o3 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #53 against #171 (66.5 vs 30.9 points).
  • API cost matters — $8.00/1M output tokens against $30.00/1M, about 3.8× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $2.00/1M against $10.00/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 200K tokens against 128K.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1460 against 1347.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 20.1% against 3.1%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — o3 was listed 16 April 2025, GPT-4 Turbo 9 April 2024.

GPT-4 Turbo vs o3: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of GPT-4 Turbo and o3
FieldGPT-4 TurboOpenAIo3OpenAI
ModelCap Index position#171#53
Index score30.966.5
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$10.00$2.00
Output price / 1M tokens$30.00$8.00
Context window128K tokens200K tokens
Max output tokens4K100K
API providers listed11
Weight accessAPI onlyAPI only
Input modalitiesText, ImageImage, Text, File
First listed9 April 202416 April 2025
PublisherOpenAIOpenAI

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: GPT-4 Turbo vs o3

Public benchmark boards where GPT-4 Turbo or o3 has a published result
BoardGPT-4 Turboo3Leads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13471340–135414601454–1467o3
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation—6.5%HighOnly one result
SWE-benchSWE-bench (Princeton / SWE-agent team)—58.4%Only one result
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)—63.1PromptOnly one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis—80.7%tau2:telecom:dual-control:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="o3":reasoning=trueOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis3.1%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="GPT-4 Turbo":reasoning=false20.1%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="o3":reasoning=trueo3

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

GPT-4 Turbo vs o3: common questions

Is GPT-4 Turbo better than o3?

o3 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 22 September 2026: #53 against #171. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it. Their published uncertainty intervals do not overlap, but the aggregate Index does not predict performance on every task; compare the relevant benchmark configurations before choosing.

Is GPT-4 Turbo cheaper than o3?

o3 is cheaper on output tokens: $8.00/1M against $30.00/1M. Input tokens are $10.00/1M for GPT-4 Turbo and $2.00/1M for o3. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $35.00 for GPT-4 Turbo versus $8.00 for o3. o3 costs 77.1% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.

Which has the bigger context window, GPT-4 Turbo or o3?

o3 has the larger context window: 200K tokens against 128K.

Which is better for coding, GPT-4 Turbo or o3?

Arena coding: GPT-4 Turbo 1347, o3 1460 — o3 leads.

Are GPT-4 Turbo and o3 open-weight models?

GPT-4 Turbo: API only. o3: API only. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run GPT-4 Turbo and o3?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for GPT-4 Turbo and 1 for o3, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this GPT-4 Turbo vs o3 comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 22 September 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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