GPT-4.1 vs QwQ 32B vs Qwen3 32B
Too close to call on our weighted score (GPT-4.1 53, QwQ 32B 53, Qwen3 32B 51). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (GPT-4.1 53/100, QwQ 32B 53/100, Qwen3 32B 51/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3 32B for raw capability, QwQ 32B on price and GPT-4.1 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityQwen3 32BCapabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3 32B 138.5 · QwQ 32B 137.6 · GPT-4.1 136.8
- Lowest priceQwQ 32BQwQ 32B $0.745 · Qwen3 32B $1.23 · GPT-4.1 $3.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-4.1GPT-4.1 1,047,576 · QwQ 32B 131,072 · Qwen3 32B 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-4.1GPT-4.1: Text, Images, PDFs · QwQ 32B: Text · Qwen3 32B: Text
- Self-hostingQwQ 32B and Qwen3 32BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GPT-4.1 | QwQ 32B | Qwen3 32B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 61 | 62 | 64 |
| Price | 25% | 24 | 56 | 46 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 35 | 35 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 53/100 | 53/100 | 51/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification |  GPT-4.1OpenAI |  QwQ 32BAlibaba (Qwen) | Qwen3 32BAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 136.8 | 137.6 | 138.5 (best) |
| ECI rank | #111 of 148 | #109 of 148 | #106 of 148 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 66.9% (best) | 65.3% | 65.7% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 6.0% | — | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 38.3% | 59.2% | 66.9% (best) |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | 48.5% | — | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 31.1% | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $2.00 | $0.66 (best) | $0.70 |
| Output | $8.00 | $1.00 (best) | $2.80 |
| Cached input | $0.50 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.50 | $0.745 (best) | $1.23 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Median of 1 providers | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,047,576 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens | 16,384 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 | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Open |
| API model ID | gpt-4.1 | — | qwen3-32b |
| API providers | 25 (best) | 1 | 14 |
| Released | Apr 14, 2025 | Mar 5, 2025 | Apr 29, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | Apr 2024 | Apr 2025 |
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$36.00
- QwQ 32B$8.60
- Qwen3 32B$12.60
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-4.1, QwQ 32B or Qwen3 32B?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (GPT-4.1 53/100, QwQ 32B 53/100, Qwen3 32B 51/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3 32B for raw capability, QwQ 32B on price and GPT-4.1 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1, QwQ 32B or Qwen3 32B?
QwQ 32B is cheaper at $0.66 input / $1.00 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Qwen3 32B costs $0.70 input / $2.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price); GPT-4.1 costs $2.00 input / $8.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.745 per million tokens for QwQ 32B versus $1.23 for Qwen3 32B (1.6× as much) and $3.50 for GPT-4.1 (4.7× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Qwen3 32B scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3 32B 138.5 (#106 of 148), QwQ 32B 137.6 (#109 of 148) and GPT-4.1 136.8 (#111 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (135.1–140.4 vs 133.1–141.7), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-4.1 66.9%, Qwen3 32B 65.7%, QwQ 32B 65.3%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3 32B 66.9%, QwQ 32B 59.2%, GPT-4.1 38.3%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for QwQ 32B and Qwen3 32B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen3 32B leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
GPT-4.1 has the largest context window at 1,047,576 tokens, against 131,072 for QwQ 32B and 131,072 for Qwen3 32B. Maximum output per response: GPT-4.1 up to 32,768, QwQ 32B up to 8,192, Qwen3 32B up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-4.1 accepts text, images and PDFs; QwQ 32B accepts text; Qwen3 32B accepts text. GPT-4.1 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
QwQ 32B and Qwen3 32B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3 32B is the newest, released Apr 29, 2025. GPT-4.1 came out Apr 14, 2025; QwQ 32B came out Mar 5, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 Apr 2024, QwQ 32B Apr 2024, Qwen3 32B 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.
