o3 for math
o3 is the #1 pick on LLMDex's llm for math ranking out of 6 models we track for this use case. Below, the specific reasons it slots where it does, and when you should reach for an alternative.
Updated
At a glance
- Rank
- #1 of 6
- Context
- 200K tokens
- Output / 1M
- $8.00 / 1M tokens
- Released
- Apr 2025
Why o3 fits this task
Three things about o3 that map directly onto what this task rewards: Industry-leading reasoning depth at launch; Tool-use during reasoning loops. Beyond the task-specific fit, o3 also brings strong on math, science, and abstract puzzles, both of which compound when the workload broadens.
The criteria this task rewards
LLMDex ranks best llm for math on 5 criteria , these are the axes the ranking uses, in priority order:
- MATH-500, AIME, USAMO, Putnam scores
- Step-by-step reasoning quality (not just final answer)
- Symbolic vs. numerical handling
- Tool-use for code-execution / Wolfram integration
- Latency on reasoning models, math thinking is slow
How o3 scores on each axis
Where o3 costs you: slow first-token, unpredictable total latency. For most teams this is acceptable on this workload, the value of the strengths above outweighs the cost. For cost-bound workloads or teams with strict latency budgets, run an eval against the next two ranked models on real data before committing.
Strengths that pay off here
- Industry-leading reasoning depth at launch
- Strong on math, science, and abstract puzzles
- Tool-use during reasoning loops
Tracked weaknesses
- Slow first-token, unpredictable total latency
- Expensive when reasoning runs long
When to pick something else
If you have a binding constraint that o3 doesn't satisfy, pricing, license, regional availability, modality coverage, the next-best pick on this task is GPT-5.5 from OpenAI. OpenAI's mid-cycle GPT-5 refresh, improved reasoning, tool use, and multimodal grounding over the 2025 launch.
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Other models for math
- GPT-5.5 for math
OpenAI's mid-cycle GPT-5 refresh, improved reasoning, tool use, and multimodal grounding over the 2025 launch.
Read guide - Claude Opus 4.7 for math
Anthropic's mid-2026 flagship, ahead on SWE-bench, agent reliability, and writing quality.
Read guide - DeepSeek-R1 for math
First open-weight reasoning model to match o1, the release that proved RL-from-scratch reasoning training was reproducible.
Read guide - o4 for math
OpenAI's late-2025 standalone reasoning model, an evolution of o3 with deeper chain-of-thought and stronger multimodal reasoning.
Read guide - Gemini 3 Pro for math
Google's late-2025 flagship, set new benchmarks on long-context, vision, and reasoning at competitive pricing.
Read guide
o3 for other use cases
Direct comparisons
Frequently asked
Is o3 good for math?
o3 is ranked #1 on LLMDex's math list. OpenAI's flagship reasoning model, set the bar for hard math, GPQA, and agent benchmarks in 2025.How much does o3 cost for math?
o3 costs $2.00 / 1M tokens for input tokens and $8.00 / 1M tokens for output tokens. For math workloads, output costs typically dominate; budget on the higher number.What's a cheaper alternative to o3 for math?
The next ranked model on this task is GPT-5.5. Compare both before committing.When should I NOT use o3 for math?
Tracked weakness: Slow first-token, unpredictable total latency. If that constraint is binding for your workload, the next-ranked model on this task is the safer pick.
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