OpenAI text-embedding-3-small vs Cohere Embed Multilingual v3

Detailed comparison between OpenAI text-embedding-3-small and Cohere Embed Multilingual v3. See which embedding best meets your accuracy and performance needs.

Model Comparison

Cohere Embed Multilingual v3 takes the lead.

Both OpenAI text-embedding-3-small and Cohere Embed Multilingual v3 are powerful embedding models designed to improve retrieval quality in RAG applications. However, their performance characteristics differ in important ways.

Why Cohere Embed Multilingual v3:

  • Cohere Embed Multilingual v3 delivers better accuracy (nDCG@10: 0.781 vs 0.762)
  • Cohere Embed Multilingual v3 is 5934ms faster on average

Overview

Key metrics

ELO Rating

Overall ranking quality

OpenAI text-embedding-3-small

1503

Cohere Embed Multilingual v3

1501

Win Rate

Head-to-head performance

OpenAI text-embedding-3-small

44.6%

Cohere Embed Multilingual v3

42.9%

Accuracy (nDCG@10)

Ranking quality metric

OpenAI text-embedding-3-small

0.762

Cohere Embed Multilingual v3

0.781

Average Latency

Response time

OpenAI text-embedding-3-small

29958ms

Cohere Embed Multilingual v3

24024ms

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-smallCohere Embed Multilingual v3Description
Overall Performance
ELO Rating
1503
1501
Overall ranking quality based on pairwise comparisons
Win Rate
44.6%
42.9%
Percentage of comparisons won against other models
Pricing & Availability
Price per 1M tokens
$0.020
$0.100
Cost per million tokens processed
Release Date
2024-01-25
2024-02-07
Model release date
Accuracy Metrics
Avg nDCG@10
0.762
0.781
Normalized discounted cumulative gain at position 10
Performance Metrics
Avg Latency
29958ms
24024ms
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-smallCohere Embed Multilingual v3Description
Accuracy Metrics
Latency Metrics
Mean
55877ms
37785ms
Average response time
P50
54759ms
37029ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
64259ms
43453ms
90th percentile

business reports

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-smallCohere Embed Multilingual v3Description
Accuracy Metrics
Latency Metrics
Mean
5645ms
5204ms
Average response time
P50
5532ms
5100ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
6492ms
5985ms
90th percentile

DBPedia

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-smallCohere Embed Multilingual v3Description
Accuracy Metrics
nDCG@5
0.605
0.619
Ranking quality at top 5 results
nDCG@10
0.604
0.591
Ranking quality at top 10 results
Recall@5
0.230
0.222
% of relevant docs in top 5
Recall@10
0.365
0.329
% of relevant docs in top 10
Latency Metrics
Mean
35365ms
33570ms
Average response time
P50
34658ms
32899ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
40670ms
38606ms
90th percentile

FiQa

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-smallCohere Embed Multilingual v3Description
Accuracy Metrics
nDCG@5
0.635
0.637
Ranking quality at top 5 results
nDCG@10
0.647
0.654
Ranking quality at top 10 results
Recall@5
0.623
0.621
% of relevant docs in top 5
Recall@10
0.681
0.692
% of relevant docs in top 10
Latency Metrics
Mean
41338ms
37581ms
Average response time
P50
40511ms
36829ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
47539ms
43218ms
90th percentile

SciFact

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-smallCohere Embed Multilingual v3Description
Accuracy Metrics
nDCG@5
0.682
0.723
Ranking quality at top 5 results
nDCG@10
0.707
0.732
Ranking quality at top 10 results
Recall@5
0.778
0.808
% of relevant docs in top 5
Recall@10
0.843
0.833
% of relevant docs in top 10
Latency Metrics
Mean
55544ms
39542ms
Average response time
P50
54433ms
38751ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
63876ms
45473ms
90th percentile

MSMARCO

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-smallCohere Embed Multilingual v3Description
Accuracy Metrics
nDCG@5
0.997
0.996
Ranking quality at top 5 results
nDCG@10
0.990
0.994
Ranking quality at top 10 results
Recall@5
0.122
0.122
% of relevant docs in top 5
Recall@10
0.213
0.218
% of relevant docs in top 10
Latency Metrics
Mean
35961ms
32380ms
Average response time
P50
35242ms
31732ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
41355ms
37237ms
90th percentile

NorQuAD

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-smallCohere Embed Multilingual v3Description
Accuracy Metrics
Latency Metrics
Mean
6467ms
3824ms
Average response time
P50
6338ms
3748ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
7437ms
4398ms
90th percentile

ARCD

MetricOpenAI text-embedding-3-smallCohere Embed Multilingual v3Description
Accuracy Metrics
nDCG@5
0.855
0.925
Ranking quality at top 5 results
nDCG@10
0.862
0.933
Ranking quality at top 10 results
Recall@5
0.900
0.940
% of relevant docs in top 5
Recall@10
0.920
0.960
% of relevant docs in top 10
Latency Metrics
Mean
3464ms
2305ms
Average response time
P50
3395ms
2259ms
50th percentile (median)
P90
3984ms
2651ms
90th percentile

Explore More

Compare more embeddings

See how all embedding models stack up. Compare OpenAI, Cohere, Jina AI, Voyage, and more. View comprehensive benchmarks, compare performance metrics, and find the perfect embedding for your RAG application.