Model comparison
o1 vs o3-mini
Head-to-head evidence from 8 shared benchmark results across 4 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: o1 #136 (Estimated); o3-mini #141 (Supported). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. o1 and o3-mini share 8 comparable benchmark results. 2 of 8 categories are comparable. 8 results are unique to o1; 2 to o3-mini.
Updated July 24, 2026- Shared results
- 8
- o1 only
- 8
- o3-mini only
- 2
- Comparable categories
- 2 / 8
Pick o1 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. o3-mini only becomes the better choice if instruction following is the priority or you want the cheaper token bill.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 8 shared benchmark results across 4 evidence categories; 2 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
o1 has the cleaner BenchAlign overall profile here, landing at 47.14 versus 46.59. It is a real lead, but still close enough that category-level strengths matter more than the headline number.
o1 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $15.00 input / $60.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $1.10 input / $4.40 output per 1M tokens for o3-mini. That is roughly 13.6x on output cost alone.
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | o1 | Δ | o3-mini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inst. Following | o192.2 | Margin→ 1.7 | o3-mini93.9 |
| Knowledge | o175.7 | Margin→ 1.5 | o3-mini77.2 |
| Coding | o1Not measured | MarginNo overlap | o3-mini49.3 |
| Math | o19.3 | MarginNo overlap | o3-miniNot measured |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | o1 | o3-mini | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | o1$15 input / $60 output | o3-mini$1.1 input / $4.4 output | o3-mini has the lower combined listed price. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | o198 tok/s | o3-mini160 tok/s | o3-mini has the higher measured throughput. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | o132.29 s | o3-mini7.12 s | o3-mini reaches the first token sooner. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | o1200K | o3-mini200K | Listed context windows are equal. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | o1 | o3-mini | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-bench resultsSource | 62.6% | 28.7% | o1 leads |
Coding3 benchmarks
Reasoning2 benchmarks
Knowledgeo3-mini wins8 benchmarks
| Benchmark | o1 | o3-mini | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLUSource | 91.8% | 86.9% | o1 leads |
| GPQASource | 75.7% | 77.2% | o3-mini leads |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 23.4% | 19.0% | o1 leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 74.7% | 74.8% | o3-mini leads |
| AA-HLESource | 7.7% | 8.7% | o3-mini leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | -10.5% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 34.7% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 69.3% | — | Not comparable |
Math2 benchmarks
Frequently Asked Questions (3)
Which is better, o1 or o3-mini?
o1 is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 47.14 to 46.59. The biggest single separator in this matchup is IFEval, where the scores are 92.2% and 93.9%.
Which is better for knowledge tasks, o1 or o3-mini?
o3-mini has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 77.2 versus 75.7. Inside this category, MMLU is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for instruction following, o1 or o3-mini?
o3-mini has the edge for instruction following in this comparison, averaging 93.9 versus 92.2. Inside this category, IFEval is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.