o3 Mini vs o4 Mini Deep Research
How do these models stack up? Below is an expert side-by-side comparison of specifications, context window capacity, live pricing per million tokens, and standardized benchmark scores for o3 Mini and o4 Mini Deep Research.
o3 Mini
OpenAI o3-mini is a cost-efficient language model optimized for STEM reasoning tasks, particularly excelling in science, mathematics, and coding. This model supports the `reasoning_effort` parameter, which can be set to...
o4 Mini Deep Research
o4-mini-deep-research is OpenAI's faster, more affordable deep research model—ideal for tackling complex, multi-step research tasks. Note: This model always uses the 'web_search' tool which adds additional cost.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | o3 Mini | o4 Mini Deep Research |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI | OpenAI |
| Context Window | 200,000 tokens | 200,000 tokens |
| Agent Suitability | 91/100 | N/A |
| Time to First Token (TTFT) | 800 ms | N/A |
| Deployment Model | managed api | managed api |
| Production Stability | stable | stable |
| API Available | Yes | Yes |
| Released Date | 2025-01-31 | 2025-10-10 |
API Pricing Comparison
Input Price per Million Tokens
o3 Mini
$1.10
o4 Mini Deep Research
$2.00
Output Price per Million Tokens
o3 Mini
$4.40
o4 Mini Deep Research
$8.00
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Benchmark Performance Metrics
Scores show the raw performance percentages verified across key evaluation suites. Higher bars indicate superior accuracy and capability in that domain.
o3 Mini Quirks & Gotchas
- ▸Best cost/performance ratio for reasoning tasks in the OpenAI lineup
- ▸Still slower than GPT-5 for simple tool calls — route accordingly
o4 Mini Deep Research Quirks & Gotchas
No developer gotchas reported.