Skip to content
ModelCap

Head-to-head comparison

o3 vs o3 Pro

o3 (OpenAI) and o3 Pro (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 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#38 vs #54); and o3 is 10× cheaper per output token ($8.00/1M vs $80.00/1M).

Which should you choose?

Choose o3 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #38 against #54 (55.1 vs 46.5 points).
  • API cost matters — $8.00/1M output tokens against $80.00/1M, about 10× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $2.00/1M against $20.00/1M.

Choose o3 Pro if…

  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 33.3 against 31.1.
  • you want the more recently listed model — o3 Pro was listed 10 June 2025, o3 16 April 2025.

o3 vs o3 Pro: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of o3 and o3 Pro
Fieldo3OpenAIo3 ProOpenAI
ModelCap Index position#38#54
Index score55.146.5
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$2.00$20.00
Output price / 1M tokens$8.00$80.00
Context window200K tokens200K tokens
Max output tokens100K100K
API providers listed11
Weight accessAPI onlyAPI only
Input modalitiesImage, Text, FileText, File, Image
First listed16 April 202510 June 2025
PublisherOpenAIOpenAI

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

Benchmark scores: o3 vs o3 Pro

Public benchmark boards where o3 or o3 Pro has a published result
Boardo3o3 ProLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14601453–1466—Only one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation6.5%High—Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis31.1intelligence-index33.3intelligence-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 vs o3 Pro: common questions

Is o3 better than o3 Pro?

o3 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #38 against #54. 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 cheaper than o3 Pro?

o3 is cheaper on output tokens: $8.00/1M against $80.00/1M. Input tokens are $2.00/1M for o3 and $20.00/1M for o3 Pro. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

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

Both publish a 200K-token context window.

Which is better for coding, o3 or o3 Pro?

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 and o3 Pro open-weight models?

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

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

How current is this o3 vs o3 Pro 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.

Explore further