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Head-to-head comparison

o3 Pro vs o4 Mini

o3 Pro (OpenAI) and o4 Mini (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 17 August 2026

As of 17 August 2026, o3 Pro holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#54 vs #57); and o4 Mini is 18.2× cheaper per output token ($4.40/1M vs $80.00/1M).

Which should you choose?

Choose o3 Pro if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #54 against #57 (46.5 vs 43.5 points).
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 33.3 against 26.1.
  • you want the more recently listed model — o3 Pro was listed 10 June 2025, o4 Mini 16 April 2025.

Choose o4 Mini if…

  • API cost matters — $4.40/1M output tokens against $80.00/1M, about 18.2× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $1.10/1M against $20.00/1M.

o3 Pro vs o4 Mini: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of o3 Pro and o4 Mini
Fieldo3 ProOpenAIo4 MiniOpenAI
ModelCap Index position#54#57
Index score46.543.5
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$20.00$1.10
Output price / 1M tokens$80.00$4.40
Context window200K tokens200K tokens
Max output tokens100K100K
API providers listed11
Weight accessAPI onlyAPI only
Input modalitiesText, File, ImageImage, Text, File
First listed10 June 202516 April 2025
PublisherOpenAIOpenAI

Evidence: 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board · 4 public benchmark observations across 4 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: o3 Pro vs o4 Mini

Public benchmark boards where o3 Pro or o4 Mini has a published result
Boardo3 Proo4 MiniLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14331426–1440Only one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation6.1%HighOnly one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis33.3intelligence-index26.1intelligence-indexo3 Pro

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.

o3 Pro vs o4 Mini: common questions

Is o3 Pro better than o4 Mini?

o3 Pro ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #54 against #57. 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.

Is o3 Pro cheaper than o4 Mini?

o4 Mini is cheaper on output tokens: $4.40/1M against $80.00/1M. Input tokens are $20.00/1M for o3 Pro and $1.10/1M for o4 Mini. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, o3 Pro or o4 Mini?

Both publish a 200K-token context window.

Which is better for coding, o3 Pro or o4 Mini?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are o3 Pro and o4 Mini open-weight models?

o3 Pro: API only. o4 Mini: 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 o3 Pro and o4 Mini?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for o3 Pro and 1 for o4 Mini, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this o3 Pro vs o4 Mini comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 17 August 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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