GPT-4.1 mini vs Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct vs QwQ Plus
GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 62 to 41 and 38 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
OpenAIGPT-4.1 mini
62/100- ECI135.0
- Price$0.40 / $1.60
- Context1.05M
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct
41/100- ECI—
- Price$0.45 / $2.25
- Context262K
- Alibaba (Qwen)
QwQ Plus
38/100- ECI—
- Price$0.80 / $2.40
- Context131K
GPT-4.1 mini is our pick
GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct (41) and QwQ Plus (38). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct $0.90 · QwQ Plus $1.20 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct 262,144 · QwQ Plus 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs · Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct: Text · QwQ Plus: Text
- Self-hostingQwen3-Coder 30B-A3B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GPT-4.1 mini | Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct | QwQ Plus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 57 | 52 | 46 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 70 | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 61 | 37 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 62/100 | 41/100 | 38/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-4.1 miniOpenAI | Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B InstructAlibaba (Qwen) | QwQ PlusAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 135.0 | — | — |
| ECI rank | #115 of 148 | — | — |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 65.9% (best) | — | 65.4% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 6.7% | — | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 44.7% | — | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 12.7% | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.40 (best) | $0.45 | $0.80 |
| Output | $1.60 (best) | $2.25 | $2.40 |
| Cached input | $0.10 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.70 (best) | $0.90 | $1.20 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Over 32K: $0.75 / $3.75 | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Official Alibaba API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,047,576 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | No |
| PDFs | Yes | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gpt-4.1-mini | qwen3-coder-30b-a3b-instruct | qwq-plus |
| API providers | 24 (best) | 13 | 2 |
| Released | Apr 14, 2025 | Apr 2025 | Mar 5, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | Apr 2025 | Apr 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
- Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct$9.00
- QwQ Plus$12.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-4.1 mini, Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct or QwQ Plus?
GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct (41) and QwQ Plus (38). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 mini, Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct or QwQ Plus?
GPT-4.1 mini is cheaper at $0.40 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct costs $0.45 input / $2.25 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price); QwQ Plus costs $0.80 input / $2.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.70 per million tokens for GPT-4.1 mini versus $0.90 for Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct (1.3× as much) and $1.20 for QwQ Plus (1.7× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. GPT-4.1 mini has an ECI of 135.0, Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct has not been scored yet and QwQ Plus has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4.1 mini, Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct and QwQ Plus yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
GPT-4.1 mini has the largest context window at 1,047,576 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct and 131,072 for QwQ Plus. Maximum output per response: GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768, Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct up to 65,536, QwQ Plus up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-4.1 mini accepts text, images and PDFs; Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct accepts text; QwQ Plus accepts text. GPT-4.1 mini handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 mini and QwQ Plus is proprietary.
Which is newer?
GPT-4.1 mini is the newest, released Apr 14, 2025. Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct came out Apr 2025; QwQ Plus came out Mar 5, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 mini Apr 2024, Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct Apr 2025, QwQ Plus Apr 2024.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.
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