Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs. OpenAI o3-mini — Interactive Cost & Performance Calculator
Compare Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs OpenAI o3-mini side-by-side. Use our interactive calculator to estimate exact monthly costs, savings, and performance trade-offs at your scale.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Best for: Code generation, agentic workflows & nuanced writing
OpenAI o3-mini
Best for: Fast STEM reasoning, math, and unit-tested code generation
Side-by-Side Technical & Commercial Breakdown: Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs. OpenAI o3-mini
| Dimension | Claude 3.5 Sonnet | OpenAI o3-mini |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | OpenAI |
| Input Price (per 1M tokens) | $3.000 | $1.100 |
| Output Price (per 1M tokens) | $15.00 | $4.40 |
| Context Window | 200K tokens | 200K tokens |
| Throughput Speed | 78 tok/s | 95 tok/s |
| License / Weights | Proprietary API | Proprietary API |
| Best Use Case | Code generation, agentic workflows & nuanced writing | Fast STEM reasoning, math, and unit-tested code generation |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is more cost-effective in 2026: Claude 3.5 Sonnet or OpenAI o3-mini?
It depends on your workload volume. Use the interactive sliders above to model your exact monthly scale. Claude 3.5 Sonnet (Code generation, agentic workflows & nuanced writing) and OpenAI o3-mini (Fast STEM reasoning, math, and unit-tested code generation) have different unit economics that cross over as volume scales.
When should an engineering team choose Claude 3.5 Sonnet over OpenAI o3-mini?
Choose Claude 3.5 Sonnet when your primary priority is: Code generation, agentic workflows & nuanced writing. Choose OpenAI o3-mini when you prioritize: Fast STEM reasoning, math, and unit-tested code generation.