AI model comparison
o4 Mini vs o3 Mini High
Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.
OpenAI
o4 Mini
OpenAI o4-mini is a compact reasoning model in the o-series, optimized for fast, cost-efficient performance while retaining strong multimodal and agentic capabilities.
- Input / 1M
- $1.10
- Output / 1M
- $4.40
- Context
- 200K
OpenAI
o3 Mini High
OpenAI o3-mini-high is the same model as [o3-mini](/openai/o3-mini) with reasoning_effort set to high.
- Input / 1M
- $1.10
- Output / 1M
- $4.40
- Context
- 200K
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
Tie
Same price for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
o4 Mini
16.7 vs 11 on Artificial Analysis
Larger context window
Tie
200K vs 200K tokens
Newer release
o4 Mini
Released April 16, 2025
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores
Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.
Intelligence index
o4 Mini16.7o3 Mini High11Coding index
o4 MiniNot availableo3 Mini High16.3Agentic index
o4 MiniNot availableo3 Mini High0.9Pricing
o4 Mini vs o3 Mini High API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | o4 Mini | o3 Mini High |
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $1.10 | $1.10 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $4.40 | $4.40 |
| Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens | $0.28 | $0.55 |
| Cache writePer 1M tokens | Not available | Not available |
| Web searchPer request | $0.01 | $0.01 |
What it costs in practice
Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.
Chat message
2K in, 500 out
o4 Mini$4.40o3 Mini High$4.40Coding task
30K in, 4K out
o4 Mini$50.60$25.85 cachedo3 Mini High$50.60$34.10 cachedLong document summary
150K in, 2K out
o4 Mini$173.80$50.05 cachedo3 Mini High$173.80$91.30 cachedSpecs
Context window and capabilities
How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.
| Metric | o4 Mini | o3 Mini High |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 200K tokens | 200K tokens |
| Max output | 100K tokens | 100K tokens |
| Input types | File, Image, Text | File, Text |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | Not available | High |
| Default reasoning effort | Not available | High |
| Release date | April 16, 2025 | February 12, 2025 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | o4 Mini | o3 Mini High |
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Supported | Supported |
| Structured outputs | Supported | Supported |
| JSON mode | Supported | Supported |
| Reasoning | Supported | Supported |
| Temperature | Not supported | Not supported |
| Stop sequences | Not supported | Not supported |
| Deterministic seed | Supported | Supported |
| Verbosity control | Not supported | Not supported |
Keep exploring
More on these models
Other head-to-heads, the full model page, and the alternatives list for each model.
Our take
o4 Mini scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (16.7 vs 11). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is o4 Mini or o3 Mini High cheaper?
o4 Mini and o3 Mini High cost the same for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). o4 Mini costs $1.10 per 1M input tokens and $4.40 per 1M output tokens, and o3 Mini High costs $1.10 per 1M input tokens and $4.40 per 1M output tokens.
Which has a bigger context window, o4 Mini or o3 Mini High?
o4 Mini supports up to 200K tokens of context, compared with 200K for o3 Mini High.
Is o4 Mini smarter than o3 Mini High?
On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, o4 Mini scores 16.7 and o3 Mini High scores 11, putting o4 Mini ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.
Can I use o4 Mini and o3 Mini High at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see o4 Mini and o3 Mini High answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to o4 Mini and o3 Mini High at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.