GPT-4o mini vs Qwen Turbo
Qwen Turbo comes out ahead, 48 to 43 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
OpenAIGPT-4o mini
43/100- ECI126.6
- Price$0.15 / $0.60
- Context128K
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Turbo
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.05 / $0.20
- Context1M
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Qwen Turbo is our pick
Qwen Turbo is the better all-round choice, scoring 48/100 against GPT-4o mini (43). It leads on capability, price and context window. GPT-4o mini wins on inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025), because Qwen Turbo has no Capabilities Index score yet.
- CapabilityQwen TurboShared benchmarks: Qwen Turbo 24.0% · GPT-4o mini 22.3%
- Lowest priceQwen TurboQwen Turbo $0.087 · GPT-4o mini $0.263 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen TurboQwen Turbo 1,000,000 · GPT-4o mini 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-4o miniGPT-4o mini: Text, Images, PDFs · Qwen Turbo: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | GPT-4o mini | Qwen Turbo |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityShared benchmarks | 50% | 22 | 24 |
| Price | 25% | 77 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 35 |
| Context window | 10% | 24 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 43/100 | 48/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-4o miniOpenAI | Qwen TurboAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 126.6 | — |
| ECI rank | #135 of 148 | — |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 37.7% | 41.8% (best) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 0.7% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 6.9% (best) | 6.1% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 8.3% | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.15 | $0.05 (best) |
| Output | $0.60 | $0.20 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.075 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.263 | $0.087 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 16,384 tokens | 16,384 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | Yes | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gpt-4o-mini | qwen-turbo |
| API providers | 21 (best) | 3 |
| Released | Jul 18, 2024 | Nov 1, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 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-4o mini$2.70
- Qwen Turbo$0.90
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-4o mini or Qwen Turbo?
Qwen Turbo is the better all-round choice, scoring 48/100 against GPT-4o mini (43). It leads on capability, price and context window. GPT-4o mini wins on inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025), because Qwen Turbo has no Capabilities Index score yet.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4o mini or Qwen Turbo?
Qwen Turbo is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GPT-4o mini costs $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.087 per million tokens for Qwen Turbo versus $0.263 for GPT-4o mini (3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Not every model here has a Capabilities Index score, so we compare the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025): Qwen Turbo 24.0% and GPT-4o mini 22.3%. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen Turbo 41.8%, GPT-4o mini 37.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-4o mini 6.9%, Qwen Turbo 6.1%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4o mini and Qwen Turbo yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen Turbo leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen Turbo has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 128,000 for GPT-4o mini. Maximum output per response: GPT-4o mini up to 16,384, Qwen Turbo up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-4o mini accepts text, images and PDFs; Qwen Turbo accepts text. GPT-4o mini handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. GPT-4o mini and Qwen Turbo are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Qwen Turbo is the newest, released Nov 1, 2024. GPT-4o mini came out Jul 18, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4o mini Sep 2023, Qwen Turbo 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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