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Every score has a dated snapshot.

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  3. OpenAI o1-mini vs OpenAI o3-mini

Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 1, 2026

OpenAI o1-mini vs OpenAI o3-mini benchmark

In this head-to-head showdown, OpenAI o3-mini delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,560 vs 1,445), while OpenAI o3-mini leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (78.5%), while OpenAI o1-mini is more budget-friendly at $4.4/1M per 1M output tokens, while OpenAI o3-mini provides faster response streaming (92 tok/s). Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Executive Comparison Verdict

Bottom Line: Choose OpenAI o3-mini if your priority is peak reasoning, complex code generation, and top preference Elo. Choose OpenAI o1-mini if you are optimizing for low latency, high throughput, and cost-efficient API deployment.
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Verified Head-to-Head Advantage Breakdown

8 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost

OpenAI o1-mini (1)OpenAI o3-mini (7)
OpenAI o1-mini
1 of 8 Wins
✓Time to first token
OpenAI o3-mini
7 of 8 Wins
✓Preference Elo✓Coding Elo✓LiveBench✓SWE-bench✓GPQA Diamond✓Output speed✓Context window
OpenAI
Leads 1 of 8 metrics
OpenAI o1-mini

OpenAI high-speed, cost-effective reasoning model optimized for STEM, math, and code generation.

Elo 1,445$4.4/1M out
OpenAI
Leads 7 of 8 metrics
OpenAI o3-mini

OpenAI cost-efficient reasoning model with adjustable thinking effort and top coding benchmark scores.

o3-miniElo 1,560$4.4/1M out

OpenAI o3-mini Thinking Depth & Cost Scaler

Model B

Simulate accuracy gains vs added response time & token cost

Mode: Medium (Standard)

Reasoning models “think before answering” by generating internal reasoning tokens. Higher effort improves math, coding, and logic accuracy, but increases response delay and token costs.

Thinking Delay
290 ms
Standard speed
Reasoning Depth
~1,500
Internal tokens
Cost / 1k Calls
$8.47
4.5× standard bill
Accuracy Boost
+4.5% accuracy
STEM & SWE-bench
Top Rival Showdowns for OpenAI o1-mini
All Matchups
Compare vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5vs Gemini 3 Provs Grok 4.6vs DeepSeek V4 Provs Qwen 3 Max
Preference LeaderOpenAI o3-mini Wins

OpenAI o3-mini

Δ 115 Arena Elo pts

Throughput LeaderOpenAI o3-mini Wins

OpenAI o3-mini

92 tok/s

Value per Dollar LeaderOpenAI o1-mini Wins

OpenAI o1-mini

$4.4 / 1M output

Capability Percentiles

Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Leaders Matchup Capability Radar

Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.

Tap any node to inspect
Percentile 0–100
Head-to-Head Comparison

Overall Matchup Breakdown

Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.

OpenAI o1-mini (1)vsOpenAI o3-mini (7)
OpenAI o1-mini: 1W (13%)Overall: OpenAI o3-miniOpenAI o3-mini: 7W (87%)
← OpenAI o1-mini2 tiesOpenAI o3-mini →
🏆OpenAI o3-mini(5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Benchmark
OpenAI o1-minivsOpenAI o3-mini
Preference Elo
1,445vs1,560+115
Coding Elo
1,468vs1,585+117
SWE-bench
56.4%vs78.5%+22.1%
LiveBench
62%vs72.4%+10.4%
GPQA Diamond
76.8%vs87.2%+10.4%
OpenAI o1-mini: 0WOpenAI o3-mini: 5W
Tied (1-1)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Benchmark
OpenAI o1-minivsOpenAI o3-mini
Output speed
85 tok/svs92 tok/s+7 tok/s
Time to first token
280 msvs290 ms+10 ms
OpenAI o1-mini: 1WOpenAI o3-mini: 1W
🏆OpenAI o3-mini(1/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Benchmark
OpenAI o1-minivsOpenAI o3-mini
Output price
$4.4/1Mvs$4.4/1M
Input price
$1.1/1Mvs$1.1/1M
Context window
128kvs200k+72k
OpenAI o1-mini: 0WOpenAI o3-mini: 1W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Preference Elo+115
OpenAI o1-mini1,445
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
OpenAI o3-mini1,560
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Coding Elo+117
OpenAI o1-mini1,468
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
OpenAI o3-mini1,585
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
LiveBench+10.4%
OpenAI o1-mini62%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
OpenAI o3-mini72.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
SWE-bench+22.1%
OpenAI o1-mini56.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
OpenAI o3-mini78.5%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPQA Diamond+10.4%
OpenAI o1-mini76.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
OpenAI o3-mini87.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Time to first token+10 ms
OpenAI o1-mini280 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
OpenAI o3-mini290 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output speed+7 tok/s
OpenAI o1-mini85 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
OpenAI o3-mini92 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Input price
OpenAI o1-mini$1.1/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
OpenAI o3-mini$1.1/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output price
OpenAI o1-mini$4.4/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
OpenAI o3-mini$4.4/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Context window+72k
OpenAI o1-mini128k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
OpenAI o3-mini200k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
BenchmarkOpenAI o1-miniOpenAI o3-miniAdvantage Delta
Preference Elo
1,445
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
1,560
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+115
Coding Elo
1,468
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
1,585
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+117
LiveBench
62%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
72.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+10.4%
SWE-bench
56.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
78.5%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+22.1%
GPQA Diamond
76.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
87.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+10.4%
Time to first token
280 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
290 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+10 ms
Output speed
85 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
92 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+7 tok/s
Input price
$1.1/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
$1.1/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
—
Output price
$4.4/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
$4.4/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
—
Context window
128k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
200k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+72k
Interactive Simulator (USD)

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).

Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo
Quick Presets:
Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out
RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)
OpenAI o1-mini$104.50 / mo
In: $38.5Out: $66
OpenAI o3-mini$104.50 / mo
In: $38.5Out: $66

Key Selection Recommendations

  • 1
    OpenAI o3-mini:Pick OpenAI o3-mini when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
  • 2
    OpenAI o1-mini:Pick OpenAI o1-mini when you are optimizing output cost.
  • 3
    OpenAI o1-mini:Pick OpenAI o1-mini when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsOpenAI o3-mini

Higher SWE-bench (78.5%).

High-volume chatOpenAI o1-mini

Lower output list price ($4.4/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIOpenAI o1-mini

Lower TTFT (280 ms).

Long-document RAGOpenAI o3-mini

Larger window (200k).

Screenshots / visionOpenAI o3-mini

OpenAI o3-mini is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Target WorkloadRecommended PickEvaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agentsOpenAI o3-miniHigher SWE-bench (78.5%).
High-volume chatOpenAI o1-miniLower output list price ($4.4/1M).
Voice / low-latency UIOpenAI o1-miniLower TTFT (280 ms).
Long-document RAGOpenAI o3-miniLarger window (200k).
Screenshots / visionOpenAI o3-miniOpenAI o3-mini is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.
Community Sentiment

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CompareLLM AI Matrix

Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry

LIVE BENCHMARK
VS
OpenAI

OpenAI o1-mini

Elo 1,445
SWE-bench56.4%
Speed (tok/s)85 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$1.1/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$4.4/1M
OpenAI

OpenAI o3-mini

Elo 1,560
SWE-bench78.5%
Speed (tok/s)92 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$1.1/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$4.4/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, OpenAI o1-mini or OpenAI o3-mini?
OpenAI o3-mini has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,560). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.
Which is better at coding, OpenAI o1-mini or OpenAI o3-mini?
OpenAI o3-mini leads SWE-bench at 78.5% vs 56.4%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
OpenAI o1-mini output tokens are $4.4/1M versus $4.4/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, OpenAI o1-mini or OpenAI o3-mini?
OpenAI o1-mini has the lower time-to-first-token (280 ms vs 290 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?
OpenAI o3-mini accepts 200k tokens versus 128k.
Can I self-host either model?
Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?
No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?
Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. OpenAI o1-mini and OpenAI o3-mini Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All OpenAI o1-mini matchups →|All OpenAI o3-mini matchups →
OpenAI o1-mini vs GPT-4o mini (previous gpt-mini)OpenAI o3-mini vs GPT-5 mini (next gpt-mini)GPT-4.5 Orion vs OpenAI o3-miniGPT-5.6 Terra vs OpenAI o3-miniGPT-5 vs OpenAI o3-miniGPT-5.6 Sol vs OpenAI o3-mini