GPT-5.1 vs GPT-5.6 Sol vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview
GPT-5.6 Sol comes out ahead, 66 to 60 and 54 on our weighted score, though Qwen3.6 Max Preview is 2.7× cheaper per token.
OpenAIGPT-5.1
60/100- ECI149.7
- Price$1.25 / $10.00
- Context400K
- Our pickOpenAI
GPT-5.6 Sol
66/100- ECI161.8
- Price$4.00 / $20.00
- Context1.05M
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.6 Max Preview
54/100- ECI149.2
- Price$1.30 / $7.80
- Context262K
GPT-5.6 Sol is our pick
GPT-5.6 Sol is the better all-round choice, scoring 66/100 against GPT-5.1 (60) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Qwen3.6 Max Preview wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGPT-5.6 SolCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.6 Sol 161.8 · GPT-5.1 149.7 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2
- Lowest priceQwen3.6 Max PreviewQwen3.6 Max Preview $2.92 · GPT-5.1 $3.44 · GPT-5.6 Sol $8.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-5.6 SolGPT-5.6 Sol 1,050,000 · GPT-5.1 400,000 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-5.6 SolGPT-5.1: Text, Images · GPT-5.6 Sol: Text, Images, PDFs · Qwen3.6 Max Preview: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | GPT-5.1 | GPT-5.6 Sol | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 78 | 93 | 77 |
| Price | 25% | 24 | 7 | 28 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 80 | 35 |
| Context window | 10% | 44 | 61 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 60/100 | 66/100 | 54/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-5.1OpenAI | GPT-5.6 SolOpenAI | Qwen3.6 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 149.7 | 161.8 (best) | 149.2 |
| ECI rank | #52 of 148 | #8 of 148 (best) | #54 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 87.6% | 93.5% (best) | 87.4% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | — | 89.1% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 88.6% | 100% (best) | 91.1% |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | 68.0% | — | 76.7% (best) |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 48.0% | 69.7% (best) | 52.0% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.25 (best) | $4.00 | $1.30 |
| Output | $10.00 | $20.00 | $7.80 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.125 (best) | $0.40 | $0.13 |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.44 | $8.00 | $2.92 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Over 272K: $8.00 / $30.00 | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Official OpenAI API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 400,000 tokens | 1,050,000 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | Yes | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gpt-5.1 | gpt-5.6-sol | qwen3.6-max-preview |
| API providers | 21 | 40 (best) | 10 |
| Released | Nov 13, 2025 | Jul 9, 2026 | Apr 20, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 30, 2024 | Feb 16, 2026 | 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-5.1$32.50
- GPT-5.6 Sol$80.00
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview$28.60
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-5.1, GPT-5.6 Sol or Qwen3.6 Max Preview?
GPT-5.6 Sol is the better all-round choice, scoring 66/100 against GPT-5.1 (60) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Qwen3.6 Max Preview wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GPT-5.1, GPT-5.6 Sol or Qwen3.6 Max Preview?
Qwen3.6 Max Preview is cheaper at $1.30 input / $7.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GPT-5.1 costs $1.25 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price); GPT-5.6 Sol costs $4.00 input / $20.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $2.92 per million tokens for Qwen3.6 Max Preview versus $3.44 for GPT-5.1 (1.2× as much) and $8.00 for GPT-5.6 Sol (2.7× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
GPT-5.6 Sol scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.6 Sol 161.8 (#8 of 148), GPT-5.1 149.7 (#52 of 148) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 (#54 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (159.3–165.3 vs 148.3–151.1), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-5.6 Sol 93.5%, GPT-5.1 87.6%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 87.4%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-5.6 Sol 100%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 91.1%, GPT-5.1 88.6%; SimpleQA Verified — GPT-5.6 Sol 69.7%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 52.0%, GPT-5.1 48.0%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.6 Sol yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-5.6 Sol 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-5.6 Sol has the largest context window at 1,050,000 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5.1 and 262,144 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.1 up to 128,000, GPT-5.6 Sol up to 128,000, Qwen3.6 Max Preview up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-5.1 accepts text and images; GPT-5.6 Sol accepts text, images and PDFs; Qwen3.6 Max Preview accepts text. GPT-5.6 Sol handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. GPT-5.1, GPT-5.6 Sol and Qwen3.6 Max Preview are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
GPT-5.6 Sol is the newest, released Jul 9, 2026. Qwen3.6 Max Preview came out Apr 20, 2026; GPT-5.1 came out Nov 13, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.1 Sep 30, 2024, GPT-5.6 Sol Feb 16, 2026, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 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.
