Command R vs o3-mini
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
Updated
Command R specs · o3-mini specs- PriceCommand R
Command R is roughly 2.9× cheaper on output tokens ($1.50 vs $4.40 per 1M).
- Context windowo3-mini
o3-mini accepts 200K tokens vs 128K, 1.6× the room for long documents and codebases.
- BenchmarksTie
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.
- ModalitiesTie
Both handle text.
- OpennessCommand R
Command R ships open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0); o3-mini is API-only.
On balance Command R edges ahead, winning 2 of 5 categories against o3-mini's 1. Command R is roughly 2.9× cheaper on output tokens ($1.50 vs $4.40 per 1M). o3-mini accepts 200K tokens vs 128K, 1.6× the room for long documents and codebases.
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. Both target the same set of modalities (text), so the deciding factors are price, context, and raw quality. Command R ships open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0); o3-mini is API-only.
o3-mini is the newer of the two, released 11 months after Command R, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Command R is usually picked for rag and customer support workloads, while o3-mini sees more deployments in reasoning and math. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Command R | o3-mini |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Cohere | OpenAI |
| Released | Mar 2024 | Jan 2025 |
| Modalities | text | text |
| Context window | 128K tokens | 200K tokens |
| Max output | , | , |
| Input · 1M | $0.50 / 1M tokens | $1.10 / 1M tokens |
| Output · 1M | $1.50 / 1M tokens | $4.40 / 1M tokens |
| Knowledge cutoff | , | 2023-10 |
| Open weights | Yes (CC-BY-NC 4.0) | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
Pricing at scale
What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day$3.75 vs $9.90
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$37.50 vs $99.00
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$84.00 vs $191
Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $3.75 vs $9.90 per month, model A comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $37.50 vs $99.00 per month, model A comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $84.00 vs $191 per month, model A comes out ahead.
Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Command R$0.125
- o3-mini$0.330
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
- GPQA,79.7
Command R fits when…
- Cheap RAG
- Reliable tool-use
- Cost-sensitive workloads, 2.9× cheaper than o3-mini on output tokens.
- Self-hosting and on-prem requirements, open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0).
o3-mini fits when…
- Reasoning at mid-tier cost
- Fast for a thinking model
- Long-context tasks, handles 200K tokens vs 128K for Command R.
Consider Command R+ (08-2024)
Cohere's flagship optimized for RAG and tool use in enterprise settings.
Frequently asked
Is Command R or o3-mini cheaper?
Command R is cheaper at $1.50 / 1M tokens per million output tokens, vs $4.40 / 1M tokens for o3-mini.Which has the larger context window?
o3-mini accepts 200K tokens vs 128K for Command R.Is Command R or o3-mini better for coding?
Both Command R and o3-mini are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.Are either of these models open source?
Command R ships open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0). o3-mini is API-only.When were Command R and o3-mini released?
Command R was released by Cohere on 2024-03-11. o3-mini was released by OpenAI on 2025-01-31.
The week's AI launches, in your inbox.
One short email every Friday, new models, leaks, and quietly-shipped APIs you missed.