Qwen3 Embedding 4B vs OpenAI text-embedding-3-small
Detailed comparison between Qwen3 Embedding 4B and OpenAI text-embedding-3-small. See which embedding best meets your accuracy and performance needs. If you want to compare these models on your data, try Agentset.
Model Comparison
Qwen3 Embedding 4B takes the lead.
Both Qwen3 Embedding 4B and OpenAI text-embedding-3-small are powerful embedding models designed to improve retrieval quality in RAG applications. However, their performance characteristics differ in important ways.
Why Qwen3 Embedding 4B:
- Qwen3 Embedding 4B delivers better accuracy (nDCG@10: 0.705 vs 0.689)
Overview
Key metrics
ELO Rating
Overall ranking quality
Qwen3 Embedding 4B
OpenAI text-embedding-3-small
Win Rate
Head-to-head performance
Qwen3 Embedding 4B
OpenAI text-embedding-3-small
Accuracy (nDCG@10)
Ranking quality metric
Qwen3 Embedding 4B
OpenAI text-embedding-3-small
Average Latency
Response time
Qwen3 Embedding 4B
OpenAI text-embedding-3-small
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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 | Qwen3 Embedding 4B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Performance | |||
| ELO Rating | 1482 | 1480 | Overall ranking quality based on pairwise comparisons |
| Win Rate | 44.6% | 43.9% | Percentage of comparisons won against other models |
| Pricing & Availability | |||
| Price per 1M tokens | $0.020 | $0.020 | Cost per million tokens processed |
| Dimensions | 2560 | 1536 | Vector embedding dimensions (lower is more efficient) |
| Release Date | 2025-06-06 | 2024-01-25 | Model release date |
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| Avg nDCG@10 | 0.705 | 0.689 | Normalized discounted cumulative gain at position 10 |
| Performance Metrics | |||
| Avg Latency | 29ms | 15ms | Average response time across all datasets |
Build RAG in Minutes, Not Months
Agentset gives you a complete RAG API with top-ranked embedding models and smart retrieval built in. Upload your data, call the API, and get accurate results from day one.
import { Agentset } from "agentset";
const agentset = new Agentset();
const ns = agentset.namespace("ns_1234");
const results = await ns.search(
"What is multi-head attention?"
);
for (const result of results) {
console.log(result.text);
}Dataset Performance
By field
Comprehensive comparison of accuracy metrics (nDCG, Recall) and latency percentiles for each benchmark dataset.
business reports
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 4B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.000 | 0.000 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.000 | 0.000 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 29ms | 16ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 29ms | 16ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 29ms | 16ms | 90th percentile |
DBPedia
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 4B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.799 | 0.858 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.787 | 0.807 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.061 | 0.062 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.119 | 0.123 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 26ms | 9ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 26ms | 9ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 26ms | 9ms | 90th percentile |
FiQa
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 4B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.838 | 0.801 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.836 | 0.814 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.719 | 0.624 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.839 | 0.682 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 23ms | 16ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 23ms | 16ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 23ms | 16ms | 90th percentile |
SciFact
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 4B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.666 | 0.663 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.697 | 0.684 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.782 | 0.774 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.891 | 0.840 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 38ms | 17ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 38ms | 17ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 38ms | 17ms | 90th percentile |
MSMARCO
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 4B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.974 | 0.959 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.954 | 0.946 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.124 | 0.122 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.224 | 0.212 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 31ms | 20ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 31ms | 20ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 31ms | 20ms | 90th percentile |
ARCD
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 4B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-small | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.857 | 0.786 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.864 | 0.793 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.940 | 0.900 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.960 | 0.920 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 25ms | 15ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 25ms | 15ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 25ms | 15ms | 90th percentile |
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