Key differences between full O3 and O3-Mini
Introduction
OpenAI’s highest-tier subscription for accessing o3 capabilities is the ChatGPT Pro plan at $200/month, which provides:
Unlimited access to o3-mini with no daily message limits
Priority availability for upcoming o3 features like “Deep Research” mode
Full access to o1-pro mode (enhanced reasoning) and Advanced Voice
Pricing
While o3-mini is available across tiers, the full o3 model remains in limited preview with no public subscription option as of February 2025. Developers requiring API access to o3-mini must reach Tier 4 usage ($250+ monthly API spend) for full capabilities.
The pricing strategy positions Pro as the premium option for power users needing unfettered access to OpenAI’s most advanced reasoning models
Difference between full O3 and O3-mini
The key differences between OpenAI’s full o3 model (unreleased as of February 2025) and the available o3-mini lie in capabilities, cost structure
Key Technical Divergences
o3-mini uses structured JSON outputs and developer messages for workflow automation, while full o3 focuses on open-ended problem solving
Full o3 supports chain-of-thought reinforcement learning for complex planning vs. o3-mini’s fixed reasoning cycles
o3-mini achieves 24% faster response times than o1-mini (7.7s vs 10.1s latency) but trails full o3’s anticipated 5-6s benchmarks
The full o3 model remains OpenAI’s flagship for advanced reasoning tasks, while o3-mini serves as an optimized solution for developers needing cost-efficient API access and ChatGPT users prioritizing speed over maximum capability.