OpenAI text-embedding-3-large vs BAAI/bge-m3

Detailed comparison between OpenAI text-embedding-3-large and BAAI/bge-m3. See which embedding best meets your accuracy and performance needs.

Model Comparison

OpenAI text-embedding-3-large takes the lead.

Both OpenAI text-embedding-3-large and BAAI/bge-m3 are powerful embedding models designed to improve retrieval quality in RAG applications. However, their performance characteristics differ in important ways.

Why OpenAI text-embedding-3-large:

  • OpenAI text-embedding-3-large has 48 higher ELO rating
  • OpenAI text-embedding-3-large delivers better accuracy (nDCG@10: 0.811 vs 0.753)
  • OpenAI text-embedding-3-large is 47952ms faster on average
  • OpenAI text-embedding-3-large has a 14.8% higher win rate

Overview

Key metrics

ELO Rating

Overall ranking quality

OpenAI text-embedding-3-large

1539

BAAI/bge-m3

1491

Win Rate

Head-to-head performance

OpenAI text-embedding-3-large

55.7%

BAAI/bge-m3

40.9%

Accuracy (nDCG@10)

Ranking quality metric

OpenAI text-embedding-3-large

0.811

BAAI/bge-m3

0.753

Average Latency

Response time

OpenAI text-embedding-3-large

32922ms

BAAI/bge-m3

80874ms

Visual Performance Analysis

Performance

ELO Rating Comparison

Win/Loss/Tie Breakdown

Accuracy Across Datasets (nDCG@10)

Latency Distribution (ms)

Breakdown

How the models stack up

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-largeBAAI/bge-m3Description
Overall Performance
ELO Rating
1539
1491
Overall ranking quality based on pairwise comparisons
Win Rate
55.7%
40.9%
Percentage of comparisons won against other models
Pricing & Availability
Price per 1M tokens
$0.130
$0.010
Cost per million tokens processed
Release Date
2024-01-25
2024-01-27
Model release date
Accuracy Metrics
Avg nDCG@10
0.811
0.753
Normalized discounted cumulative gain at position 10
Performance Metrics
Avg Latency
32922ms
80874ms
Average response time across all datasets

Dataset Performance

By field

Comprehensive comparison of accuracy metrics (nDCG, Recall) and latency percentiles for each benchmark dataset.

PG

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-largeBAAI/bge-m3Description
Accuracy Metrics
Latency Metrics
Mean
57366ms
96375ms
Average response time
P50
56219ms
94448ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
65971ms
110831ms
90th percentile

business reports

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-largeBAAI/bge-m3Description
Accuracy Metrics
Latency Metrics
Mean
8013ms
24163ms
Average response time
P50
7853ms
23680ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
9215ms
27787ms
90th percentile

DBPedia

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-largeBAAI/bge-m3Description
Accuracy Metrics
nDCG@5
0.648
0.625
Ranking quality at top 5 results
nDCG@10
0.641
0.603
Ranking quality at top 10 results
Recall@5
0.255
0.236
% of relevant docs in top 5
Recall@10
0.377
0.341
% of relevant docs in top 10
Latency Metrics
Mean
42058ms
86619ms
Average response time
P50
41217ms
84887ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
48367ms
99612ms
90th percentile

FiQa

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-largeBAAI/bge-m3Description
Accuracy Metrics
nDCG@5
0.730
0.597
Ranking quality at top 5 results
nDCG@10
0.752
0.609
Ranking quality at top 10 results
Recall@5
0.700
0.607
% of relevant docs in top 5
Recall@10
0.781
0.666
% of relevant docs in top 10
Latency Metrics
Mean
48635ms
159871ms
Average response time
P50
47662ms
156674ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
55930ms
183852ms
90th percentile

SciFact

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-largeBAAI/bge-m3Description
Accuracy Metrics
nDCG@5
0.726
0.578
Ranking quality at top 5 results
nDCG@10
0.761
0.617
Ranking quality at top 10 results
Recall@5
0.768
0.652
% of relevant docs in top 5
Recall@10
0.863
0.763
% of relevant docs in top 10
Latency Metrics
Mean
55796ms
154804ms
Average response time
P50
54680ms
151708ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
64165ms
178025ms
90th percentile

MSMARCO

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-largeBAAI/bge-m3Description
Accuracy Metrics
nDCG@5
1.000
0.997
Ranking quality at top 5 results
nDCG@10
1.000
0.997
Ranking quality at top 10 results
Recall@5
0.123
0.122
% of relevant docs in top 5
Recall@10
0.224
0.220
% of relevant docs in top 10
Latency Metrics
Mean
41860ms
96153ms
Average response time
P50
41023ms
94230ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
48139ms
110576ms
90th percentile

NorQuAD

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-largeBAAI/bge-m3Description
Accuracy Metrics
Latency Metrics
Mean
5613ms
16285ms
Average response time
P50
5501ms
15959ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
6455ms
18728ms
90th percentile

ARCD

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-largeBAAI/bge-m3Description
Accuracy Metrics
nDCG@5
0.899
0.941
Ranking quality at top 5 results
nDCG@10
0.899
0.941
Ranking quality at top 10 results
Recall@5
0.940
0.960
% of relevant docs in top 5
Recall@10
0.940
0.960
% of relevant docs in top 10
Latency Metrics
Mean
4036ms
12723ms
Average response time
P50
3955ms
12469ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
4641ms
14631ms
90th percentile

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