Grok 3 Mini Reasoning vs o3-mini
Wins 2 of 6 areas
Facts · Long documents
Wins 1 of 6 areas
Following instructions
Grok 3 Mini Reasoning wins more areas, narrowly.o3-mini is better at following instructions.
Scores updated · 21 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the six areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up21Grok 3 Mini Reasoning2 of 3 tests
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10Grok 3 Mini Reasoning1 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked01o3-mini1 of 1 test
- CodingWriting and fixing software11Even1 each
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own00Even0 each · 1 tie
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking11Even1 each · 1 tie
Agents, long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Grok 3 Mini Reasoning costs 85% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The three tests each model wins by the widest margin. Scores are out of 100.
Where Grok 3 Mini Reasoning pulls ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+55.3points ahead
- Reasons across sets of long documentsAA-LCR+12.3points ahead
- Hard command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench Hard+11.3points ahead
Where o3-mini pulls ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+21.2points ahead
- Answers hard knowledge questions correctlyAA-Omniscience · Accuracy+6.2points ahead
- Code for real scientific research problemsSciCode+2.2points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 21 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingEven
- Terminal-Bench HardGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 11.317.46.1+11.3
- SciCodeo3-mini by 2.240.642.8+2.2
ReasoningEven
- GPQA DiamondGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 1.879.177.3+1.8
- Humanity's Last Examo3-mini by 11112+1
- CritPttie0.60.3tie
FactsGrok 3 Mini Reasoning
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 55.374.218.9+55.3
- AA-Omniscience · Accuracyo3-mini by 6.215.121.3+6.2
- SimpleQA VerifiedGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 5.821.115.3+5.8
Long documentsGrok 3 Mini Reasoning
- AA-LCRGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 12.355.343+12.3
Other results10 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Grok 3 Mini Reasoning by 59.190.431.3+59.1
- AIME 2025Grok 3 Mini Reasoning by 42.590.848.3+42.5
- AA-OmniscienceGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 35.8-6.8-42.6+35.8
- ARC-AGI-1o3-mini by 1816.534.5+18
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 8.925.216.3+8.9
- livecodebench_hardGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 3.751.147.4+3.7
- AA IntelligenceGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 3.614.611+3.6
- LiveCodeBenchGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 2.780.477.7+2.7
- livecodebench_mediumo3-mini by 1.685.987.5+1.6
- livecodebench_easyo3-mini by 198.199.1+1
Questions people ask
Which is better, Grok 3 Mini Reasoning or o3-mini?
Grok 3 Mini Reasoning wins two of the six areas where both have results: facts and long documents. o3-mini wins following instructions. They are level on coding, agents and reasoning.
Which is better for coding?
Neither. They win 1 coding test each of the 2 both models report.
Which is cheaper?
Grok 3 Mini Reasoning costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $0.50 per million output tokens; o3-mini costs $1.10 and $4.40. That makes Grok 3 Mini Reasoning about 85% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 21 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 11 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 10 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.