GPT-4 Turbo vs Qwen Max
Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen Max 22, GPT-4 Turbo 20). The right pick depends on what you value most.
OpenAIGPT-4 Turbo
20/100- ECI—
- Price$10.00 / $30.00
- Context128K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Max
22/100- ECI—
- Price$1.60 / $6.40
- Context33K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Qwen Max 22/100, GPT-4 Turbo 20/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen Max on price and GPT-4 Turbo for long inputs. 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 priceQwen MaxQwen Max $2.80 · GPT-4 Turbo $15.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-4 TurboGPT-4 Turbo 128,000 · Qwen Max 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-4 TurboGPT-4 Turbo: Text, Images · Qwen Max: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | GPT-4 Turbo | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 0 | 29 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 50 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 20/100 | 22/100 |
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 TurboOpenAI | Qwen MaxAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $10.00 | $1.60 (best) |
| Output | $30.00 | $6.40 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $15.00 | $2.80 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens | 8,192 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gpt-4-turbo | qwen-max |
| API providers | 12 (best) | 6 |
| Released | Nov 6, 2023 | Apr 3, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Dec 2023 | 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 Turbo$160.00
- Qwen Max$28.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-4 Turbo or Qwen Max?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Qwen Max 22/100, GPT-4 Turbo 20/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen Max on price and GPT-4 Turbo for long inputs. 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 Turbo or Qwen Max?
Qwen Max is cheaper at $1.60 input / $6.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GPT-4 Turbo costs $10.00 input / $30.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $2.80 per million tokens for Qwen Max versus $15.00 for GPT-4 Turbo (5.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. GPT-4 Turbo has not been scored yet and Qwen Max has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4 Turbo and Qwen Max 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 Turbo has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 32,768 for Qwen Max. Maximum output per response: GPT-4 Turbo up to 4,096, Qwen Max up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-4 Turbo accepts text and images; Qwen Max accepts text. GPT-4 Turbo handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. GPT-4 Turbo and Qwen Max are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Qwen Max is the newest, released Apr 3, 2024. GPT-4 Turbo came out Nov 6, 2023. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4 Turbo Dec 2023, Qwen Max 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.
