o3 vs Qwen 3 Coder

Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.

o3 by OpenAI wins on 8 of 15 benchmarks against Qwen 3 Coder by Qwen, which leads on 6. This head-to-head comparison covers coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing metrics from our benchmark data.

Category-by-Category Breakdown

General Intelligence: In general intelligence, o3 scores 1380 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Qwen 3 Coder's 1290, while o3 scores 84.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Qwen 3 Coder's 72.0%.

Coding: In coding, both score 90.0% on HumanEval+, while o3 scores 69.1% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Qwen 3 Coder's 66.5%, while o3 scores 70.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Qwen 3 Coder's 52.0%.

Math: In math, o3 scores 96.0% on MATH compared to Qwen 3 Coder's 76.0%, while o3 scores 98.5% on GSM8K compared to Qwen 3 Coder's 90.0%.

Reasoning: In reasoning, o3 scores 83.3% on GPQA Diamond compared to Qwen 3 Coder's 48.0%, while o3 scores 75.7% on ARC-AGI compared to Qwen 3 Coder's 28.0%.

Context: In context, Qwen 3 Coder scores 262K on Context Length compared to o3's 200K.

Pricing Comparison

o3 costs $2.0/1M input tokens and $8.0/1M output tokens, while Qwen 3 Coder costs $0.30/1M input and $1.0/1M output. Qwen 3 Coder is the more affordable option for API usage.

Speed Comparison

o3 generates output at 40 tok/s compared to Qwen 3 Coder's 80 tok/s, and the time to first token is 800 ms for o3 versus 350 ms for Qwen 3 Coder. Qwen 3 Coder delivers faster throughput.

Verdict

For developers prioritizing coding and general intelligence and math, o3 has the edge. For those who value affordability and speed, Qwen 3 Coder is the stronger choice.

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o3 vs Qwen 3 Coder — FAQ

Which is better, o3 or Qwen 3 Coder?

o3 wins on more benchmarks overall (8 vs 6). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.

How does o3 compare to Qwen 3 Coder for coding?

o3 is better for coding, scoring 69.1% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 66.5%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.

Is o3 cheaper than Qwen 3 Coder?

Yes, Qwen 3 Coder is cheaper. o3 costs $2.0/1M input and $8.0/1M output tokens. Qwen 3 Coder costs $0.30/1M input and $1.0/1M output tokens.

Which is faster, o3 or Qwen 3 Coder?

Qwen 3 Coder is faster, generating output at 80 tok/s compared to 40 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.

What benchmarks does the o3 vs Qwen 3 Coder comparison cover?

This comparison covers 15 benchmarks including Chatbot Arena ELO, MMLU-Pro, HumanEval+, MATH, GPQA Diamond, SWE-bench Verified, Output Speed, LiveCodeBench, and more. Metrics span general intelligence, coding, math, reasoning, speed, and cost categories.