GPT-4o mini vs Hunyuan Hy3
OpenAI · US | Tencent · China · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick GPT-4o mini for very low cost per token for its capability tier or strong coding for a small model (87.2% humaneval). Pick Hunyuan Hy3 for frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost or runs a 295b model at the cost of a 21b — only 21b parameters active per token. Choose Hunyuan Hy3 if you need self-hosting or data privacy; GPT-4o mini if you want a managed API.
GPT-4o mini (OpenAI, US) and Hunyuan Hy3 (Tencent, China) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. GPT-4o mini is openAI's budget small multimodal model — cheap, fast text-and-vision intelligence that outscored peer small models like Gemini 1.5 Flash and Claude 3 Haiku on MMLU and HumanEval at launch. Hunyuan Hy3 is a 295B Apache-2.0 open MoE that reaches frontier reasoning quality while running at roughly 21B active-parameter cost. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Cost model: Hunyuan Hy3 ships open weights you can self-host (hardware cost only, no per-token fee), while GPT-4o mini is API-metered at $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens. Your choice depends on whether you want zero marginal cost at the price of running infrastructure.
- ▸Context window: Hunyuan Hy3 holds 2× more — 256K (~384 pages) vs 128K (~192 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
- ▸Recency: Hunyuan Hy3 is the newer model by about 24 months (released July 6, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
- ▸Ecosystem: this is a US-vs-China matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | GPT-4o mini | Hunyuan Hy3 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI (US) | Tencent (China) |
| Released | July 18, 2024 | July 6, 2026 |
| Context window | 128K (~192 pages) | 256K (~384 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens | Open weight (self-host / free) |
| Open weight? | No — API only | Yes — self-hostable |
| Modalities | text, image | text, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Very low cost per token for its capability tier
GPT-4o mini
GPT-4o mini lists very low cost per token for its capability tier among its strengths; Hunyuan Hy3 does not.
Strong coding for a small model (87.2% HumanEval)
GPT-4o mini
GPT-4o mini lists strong coding for a small model (87.2% HumanEval) among its strengths; Hunyuan Hy3 does not.
Leading MMLU among peer small models (82%)
GPT-4o mini
GPT-4o mini lists leading MMLU among peer small models (82%) among its strengths; Hunyuan Hy3 does not.
Frontier-level reported reasoning and science (GPQA Diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost
Hunyuan Hy3
GPT-4o mini is comparatively weak here — weaker on hard reasoning and coding than frontier models
Runs a 295B model at the cost of a 21B — only 21B parameters active per token
Hunyuan Hy3
Its 256K window holds about 2× more than GPT-4o mini's 128K in a single prompt.
Clean, unrestricted Apache-2.0 license with no geographic carve-out
Hunyuan Hy3
A 295B Apache-2.0 open MoE that reaches frontier reasoning quality while running at roughly 21B active-parameter cost — and it carries the larger 256K context.
Lowest cost at scale
Hunyuan Hy3
Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of GPT-4o mini's $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens.
Largest single-prompt input
Hunyuan Hy3
Its 256K window is about 2× larger than GPT-4o mini's 128K, fitting roughly 384 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Hunyuan Hy3
At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts GPT-4o mini, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Hunyuan Hy3
Larger 256K window fits more in one prompt.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs
→ Hunyuan Hy3
Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; GPT-4o mini is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is very low cost per token for its capability tier
→ GPT-4o mini
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost
→ Hunyuan Hy3
That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules
→ GPT-4o mini or Hunyuan Hy3
Origin (US vs China) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
GPT-4o mini: where it fits
OpenAI's budget small multimodal model — cheap, fast text-and-vision intelligence that outscored peer small models like Gemini 1.5 Flash and Claude 3 Haiku on MMLU and HumanEval at launch. Released July 18, 2024 by OpenAI, it is built for very low cost per token for its capability tier, strong coding for a small model (87.2% HumanEval), leading MMLU among peer small models (82%), and text and image (vision) understanding in the API.
Its trade-offs are real: only 128K context with an October 2023 knowledge cutoff, and weaker on hard reasoning and coding than frontier models. At $0.15 in / $0.6 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
Hunyuan Hy3: where it fits
A 295B Apache-2.0 open MoE that reaches frontier reasoning quality while running at roughly 21B active-parameter cost. Released July 6, 2026 by Tencent, it is built for frontier-level reported reasoning and science (GPQA Diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost, runs a 295B model at the cost of a 21B — only 21B parameters active per token, clean, unrestricted Apache-2.0 license with no geographic carve-out, and broad day-one ecosystem support plus an FP8 checkpoint.
Its trade-offs: benchmarks are largely self-reported, and the ultra-low hosted pricing is a limited promotion, and the hosted API is China-jurisdiction, and self-hosting a 295B MoE still needs serious hardware. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. Hunyuan Hy3 gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. GPT-4o mini gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Want both GPT-4o mini and Hunyuan Hy3 without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is GPT-4o mini or Hunyuan Hy3 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, GPT-4o mini leans toward very low cost per token for its capability tier while Hunyuan Hy3 leans toward frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4o mini or Hunyuan Hy3?
Hunyuan Hy3 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while GPT-4o mini is API-metered at $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
Hunyuan Hy3 — 256K vs 128K, about 2× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both GPT-4o mini and Hunyuan Hy3 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you GPT-4o mini, Hunyuan Hy3 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, GPT-4o mini or Hunyuan Hy3?
Hunyuan Hy3 — released July 6, 2026, about 24 months after GPT-4o mini.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.