Cheaper alternatives to o3
o3 scores 1422 on the overall Arena and costs about $700.00/month at 100,000 calls (1,500 in / 500 out). Here are models that match or beat it on quality for less.
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 1430 | $35.00 | $665.00/mo | DeepSeek |
| MiMo-V2.5 | 1427 | $35.00 | $665.00/mo | Xiaomi |
| MiMo-V2-Omni | 1422 | $35.00 | $665.00/mo | Xiaomi |
| Hunyuan Hy3 | 1444 | $70.00 | $630.00/mo | Tencent |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | 1434 | $108.75 | $591.25/mo | DeepSeek |
| MiMo-V2.5-Pro | 1445 | $108.75 | $591.25/mo | Xiaomi |
| MiMo-V2-Pro | 1435 | $108.75 | $591.25/mo | Xiaomi |
| Mistral Large 3 | 1423 | $150.00 | $550.00/mo | Mistral AI |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | 1439 | $170.00 | $530.00/mo | |
| GLM-4.5 | 1429 | $200.00 | $500.00/mo | Z.ai (Zhipu AI) |
| GLM-4.6 | 1448 | $200.00 | $500.00/mo | Z.ai (Zhipu AI) |
| GLM-4.7 | 1432 | $200.00 | $500.00/mo | Z.ai (Zhipu AI) |
Intelligence scores are community Arena ratings from LMArena / arena.ai, used under CC BY 4.0. Snapshot last refreshed 28 July 2026. Scores are a relative signal, not an absolute measure of capability. A Measured score was voted on directly; an Estimated score is inherited from an identical base model (a regional/creator-prefixed hosting duplicate). See our methodology.
FAQ
Is there a cheaper model as good as o3?
Yes. DeepSeek V4 Flash matches or beats o3 on the overall Arena leaderboard and costs about $35.00/month versus $700.00/month at a typical volume of 100,000 calls — saving roughly $665.00/month.
How is 'as good' defined?
We only list models with an overall Arena score at or above o3's (1422). Arena scores are community preference ratings, not a single benchmark — confirm the alternative on your own task before switching.
Cite / link to this page
You’re welcome to reference this page and its figures with attribution and a link back.
https://aicalculatorpro.com/alternatives/o3/<a href="https://aicalculatorpro.com/alternatives/o3/">Cheaper alternatives to o3 — AI Calculator Pro</a>