Cost Comparison (1000 input + 500 output tokens, 100 requests/day)
o1-mini
o3-pro
Cost Differences
o3-pro costs more than o1-mini
Feature Comparison
| Feature | o1-mini | o3-pro |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI | OpenAI |
| Input Price | $1.10/1M tokens | $20.00/1M tokens |
| Output Price | $4.40/1M tokens | $80.00/1M tokens |
| Context Window | 128,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max Output | 65,536 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Category | reasoning | reasoning |
| Capabilities | textreasoning | textreasoningcode |
| Release Date | 9/12/2024 | 6/10/2025 |
o1-mini vs o3-pro: Which Should You Choose?
Choosing between o1-mini and o3-pro depends on your priorities: cost efficiency, context length, or raw capability. o1-mini is the more affordable option at $1.10/1M input tokens — 95% cheaper than o3-pro. Meanwhile, o3-pro offers a significantly larger context window at 1,000,000 tokens vs 128,000 for o1-mini.
Both models are in the reasoning category, making this a direct head-to-head comparison. At scale — say 10,000 requests per day — the cost difference adds up: o1-mini would save you roughly $17,010.00/month compared to o3-pro. For startups and indie developers, that difference can be significant.
Output costs matter too. o1-mini charges $4.40/1M output tokens vs $80.00 for o3-pro. For generation-heavy workloads (content creation, code generation, summarization), output pricing often dominates your bill. o1-mini has the edge here at $4.40/1M output tokens.
Best Use Cases
Choose o1-mini when:
- • Budget is a primary concern
- • You're already using OpenAI's API ecosystem
Choose o3-pro when:
- • You need a larger context window (1,000,000 tokens)
- • You need more capabilities (code)
- • You need longer outputs (up to 131,072 tokens)
- • You're already using OpenAI's API ecosystem
Try Different Scenarios
Use the calculator below to see how costs change with different usage patterns
o1-mini (OpenAI)
o3-pro (OpenAI)
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