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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-4.1 mini vs Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct

GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 62 to 41 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    OpenAI

    GPT-4.1 mini

    Released Apr 14, 2025

    62/100
    • ECI135.0
    • Price$0.40 / $1.60
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove GPT-4.1 mini

  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct

    Released Apr 2025

    41/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.45 / $2.25
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

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). 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 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs · Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct: Text
  • Self-hostingQwen3-Coder 30B-A3B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-4.1 miniQwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct
Price50%5752
Inputs & features30%7025
Context window20%6137
Overall100%62/10041/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

GPT-4.1 mini vs Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-4.1 miniOpenAIQwen3-Coder 30B-A3B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)135.0—
ECI rank#115 of 148—
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions65.9%—
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics6.7%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics44.7%—
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions12.7%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.40 (best)$0.45
Output$1.60 (best)$2.25
Cached input$0.10—
Blended (3:1)$0.70 (best)$0.90
Long-context rateSame rateOver 32K: $0.75 / $3.75
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window1,047,576 tokens (best)262,144 tokens
Max output32,768 tokens65,536 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsYesNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDgpt-4.1-miniqwen3-coder-30b-a3b-instruct
API providers24 (best)13
ReleasedApr 14, 2025Apr 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 2024Apr 2025
03 — Cost

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
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-4.1 mini or Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct?

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct (41). 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 or Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct?

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). 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).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. GPT-4.1 mini has an ECI of 135.0 and Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4.1 mini and Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both 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. Maximum output per response: GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768, Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct up to 65,536 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. 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 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. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 mini Apr 2024, Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct Apr 2025.

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.

05 — Keep comparing

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