OpenAI: o3 API Pricing
OpenAI: o3 costs $2.00 per 1M input tokens and $8.00 per 1M output tokens (cache reads: $0.500). Context window: 200K. Prices verified 2026-10-21 · source
Alternatives to consider
98% cheaper with nearly identical quality (41.8 vs 31)
+26.6 quality points for 14% more
Cheapest openai model — 99% less per month
Rebuilt daily from our snapshot archive — the chart appears once a model has 5+ snapshots of history.
From our own daily snapshot archive — independent of provider announcements.
Intelligence measures reasoning/knowledge/coding benchmarks. A high score with a low blended price = value pick; check the value chart to see where this model lands.
Token economics
| Token type | Price | vs base input |
|---|---|---|
| Standard input | $2.00 | — |
| Cache read | $0.500 | −75% |
| Output | $8.00 | — |
| Web search tool | $10/1k searches | — |
Prompt caching stores repeated context server-side: reads cost far less, but writes carry a one-time premium.
Higher effort = deeper thinking = more reasoning tokens billed as output.
Training data ends here — newer events require retrieval or web search.
What would OpenAI: o3 cost you per month?
| Workload | Requests/mo | Avg tokens (in/out) | Est. monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light chatbot | 10,000 | 800 / 400 | $48.00 |
| Coding agent | 5,000 | 8,000 / 2,000 | $160.00 |
| RAG pipeline | 30,000 | 4,000 / 500 | $360.00 |
| Doc summarizer | 2,000 | 20,000 / 1,000 | $96.00 |
Estimates use list prices without prompt caching. Caching can cut input cost by up to 90% on repeated context.
About OpenAI: o3
o3 is a well-rounded and powerful model across domains. It sets a new standard for math, science, coding, and visual reasoning tasks. It also excels at technical writing and instruction-following....
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Frequently asked questions
How much does OpenAI: o3 cost?
OpenAI: o3 costs $2.00 per 1M input tokens and $8.00 per 1M output tokens; cached input tokens cost $0.500 per 1M. Verified 2026-10-21 — provider source.
What is the context window?
200K tokens, with up to 100K output tokens per response. That's roughly 250 pages of text in a single request.
Does it support prompt caching?
Yes — cached input is $0.500/1M, about 75% cheaper than standard input. Agents and RAG workloads with repeated context benefit most.
What's a cheaper alternative?
ScaleDown: Summarize saves about 99% on a typical workload with comparable quality.
Official resources
- OpenAI: o3 on OpenRouter — live endpoint, pricing source of record.
- Artificial Analysis benchmarks → — independent intelligence and performance analysis.
- OpenAI pricing → — first-party pricing and billing details.
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