Tesla’s lineup runs from a compact sedan to a full-size pickup, and no two vehicles in it are as different as the Model 3 and the Cybertruck. One is built to be cheap to own, easy to park, and efficient. The other is built to haul, tow, and stand out in a parking lot. Here’s how they actually compare.
Price and Range
The Model 3 starts at $36,990 for the rear-wheel-drive Standard trim, climbing to $42,490 for Premium RWD, $47,490 for Premium AWD, and $54,990 for the Performance model, according to Cars.com’s 2026 Model 3 research page. EPA-rated range on those trims runs from 309 miles on the Performance model up to 363 miles on Premium RWD.
Cybertruck pricing jumped on August 25, 2026, when Tesla raised the Dual Motor AWD trim from $69,990 to $74,990 and the Premium AWD from $79,990 to $84,990, according to Electrek. The Cyberbeast held at $99,990. As of that increase, the cheapest Cybertruck costs roughly double the cheapest Model 3, and range doesn’t scale with the price gap: the AWD and Premium AWD trims are EPA-rated at 325 miles and the Cyberbeast at 320 miles, per Cars.com’s Cybertruck page — in the same range as the Model 3 despite costing tens of thousands more.
Size: Sedan vs. Truck
This is where the two stop being comparable in any casual, parking-lot sense. The Model 3 measures 185.8 inches long, 72.8 inches wide, and 56.7 inches tall on a 113.2-inch wheelbase, per Wikipedia’s specifications table for the Model 3. The Cybertruck is 223.7 inches long, 80.0 inches wide, and 70.7 inches tall on a 143.1-inch wheelbase, according to the equivalent table for the Cybertruck. That’s nearly 38 inches of extra length and 14 inches of extra height. The Cybertruck won’t fit in some standard garage stalls or older parking structures that the Model 3 slides into without a second thought.
Cargo and Towing
The Model 3 carries its cargo in two sealed compartments: a 19.8-cubic-foot rear trunk and a 3.1-cubic-foot front trunk, for roughly 23 cubic feet total, according to a breakdown of Model 3 trunk space. It isn’t rated to tow anything.
The Cybertruck’s open bed measures 6 feet long and 67 cubic feet in volume, with a roughly 17-cubic-foot lockable sub-trunk underneath it and a front trunk of about 7 cubic feet, per a Cybertruck bed-dimensions breakdown. Payload tops out at 2,500 pounds on the AWD trims, and towing capacity reaches 11,000 pounds on AWD and Premium AWD, dropping to 7,500 pounds on Long Range RWD, confirmed on Wikipedia’s Cybertruck specifications table. That’s a bed you can actually get dirty, plus a hitch rated for a decent-size boat or camper — neither of which the Model 3 offers at any price.
Who Each One Actually Fits
If your Tesla needs to disappear into a compact parking spot, cost the least to buy and insure, and go the farthest on the smallest battery, the Model 3 is the easy answer. It’s the cheapest way into the lineup, and its sealed trunk and frunk cover groceries, luggage, and most everyday hauling without anything riding exposed to weather.
If you tow a trailer, haul gear that shouldn’t ride in a carpeted trunk, or need real payload and ground clearance, the Cybertruck is the only Tesla built for it. You’ll pay close to double the entry price and give up easy parking to get there, but nothing else Tesla sells comes close to its bed volume or towing numbers.
Photo by 04iraq.