OpenAI text-embedding-3-small vs Qwen3 Embedding 8B
Detailed comparison between OpenAI text-embedding-3-small and Qwen3 Embedding 8B. See which embedding best meets your accuracy and performance needs.
Model Comparison
Qwen3 Embedding 8B takes the lead.
Both OpenAI text-embedding-3-small and Qwen3 Embedding 8B are powerful embedding models designed to improve retrieval quality in RAG applications. However, their performance characteristics differ in important ways.
Why Qwen3 Embedding 8B:
- Qwen3 Embedding 8B has 12 higher ELO rating
- Qwen3 Embedding 8B delivers better accuracy (nDCG@10: 0.818 vs 0.762)
- OpenAI text-embedding-3-small is 100800ms faster on average
Overview
Key metrics
ELO Rating
Overall ranking quality
OpenAI text-embedding-3-small
Qwen3 Embedding 8B
Win Rate
Head-to-head performance
OpenAI text-embedding-3-small
Qwen3 Embedding 8B
Accuracy (nDCG@10)
Ranking quality metric
OpenAI text-embedding-3-small
Qwen3 Embedding 8B
Average Latency
Response time
OpenAI text-embedding-3-small
Qwen3 Embedding 8B
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
| Metric | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Performance | |||
| ELO Rating | 1503 | 1516 | Overall ranking quality based on pairwise comparisons |
| Win Rate | 44.6% | 47.9% | Percentage of comparisons won against other models |
| Pricing & Availability | |||
| Price per 1M tokens | $0.020 | $0.050 | Cost per million tokens processed |
| Release Date | 2024-01-25 | 2025-06-06 | Model release date |
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| Avg nDCG@10 | 0.762 | 0.818 | Normalized discounted cumulative gain at position 10 |
| Performance Metrics | |||
| Avg Latency | 29958ms | 130758ms | 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
| Metric | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 55877ms | 151470ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 54759ms | 148441ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 64259ms | 174191ms | 90th percentile |
business reports
| Metric | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 5645ms | 93874ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 5532ms | 91997ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 6492ms | 107955ms | 90th percentile |
DBPedia
| Metric | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.605 | 0.633 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.604 | 0.625 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.230 | 0.235 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.365 | 0.381 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 35365ms | 200373ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 34658ms | 196366ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 40670ms | 230429ms | 90th percentile |
FiQa
| Metric | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.635 | 0.760 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.647 | 0.781 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.623 | 0.732 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.681 | 0.814 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 41338ms | 189471ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 40511ms | 185682ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 47539ms | 217892ms | 90th percentile |
SciFact
| Metric | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.682 | 0.750 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.707 | 0.765 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.778 | 0.843 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.843 | 0.883 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 55544ms | 200031ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 54433ms | 196030ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 63876ms | 230036ms | 90th percentile |
MSMARCO
| Metric | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.997 | 1.000 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.990 | 1.000 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.122 | 0.123 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.213 | 0.224 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 35961ms | 180144ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 35242ms | 176541ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 41355ms | 207166ms | 90th percentile |
NorQuAD
| Metric | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 6467ms | 18544ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 6338ms | 18173ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 7437ms | 21326ms | 90th percentile |
ARCD
| Metric | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.855 | 0.913 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.862 | 0.919 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.900 | 0.920 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.920 | 0.940 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 3464ms | 12156ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 3395ms | 11913ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 3984ms | 13979ms | 90th percentile |
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