ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-5.4 mini vs Grok 4.3 vs Qwen3 Max

Grok 4.3 comes out ahead, 67 to 63 and 50 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. OpenAI

    GPT-5.4 mini

    Released Mar 17, 2026

    63/100
    • ECI148.8
    • Price$0.75 / $4.50
    • Context400K
    Full specs Remove GPT-5.4 mini
  2. Our pick

    xAI

    Grok 4.3

    Released Apr 17, 2026

    67/100
    • ECI149.2
    • Price$1.25 / $2.50
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Grok 4.3

  3. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 Max

    Released Sep 23, 2025

    50/100
    • ECI142.4
    • Price$1.20 / $6.00
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 Max
01 — Verdict

Grok 4.3 is our pick

Grok 4.3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against GPT-5.4 mini (63) and Qwen3 Max (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGrok 4.3Capabilities Index (ECI): Grok 4.3 149.2 · GPT-5.4 mini 148.8 · Qwen3 Max 142.4
  • Lowest priceGrok 4.3Grok 4.3 $1.56 · GPT-5.4 mini $1.69 · Qwen3 Max $2.40 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGrok 4.3Grok 4.3 1,000,000 · GPT-5.4 mini 400,000 · Qwen3 Max 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsGrok 4.3GPT-5.4 mini: Text, Images · Grok 4.3: Text, Images, PDFs · Qwen3 Max: Text
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-5.4 miniGrok 4.3Qwen3 Max
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%777768
Price25%394132
Inputs & features15%708025
Context window10%446037
Overall100%63/10067/10050/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

GPT-5.4 mini vs Grok 4.3 vs Qwen3 Max specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-5.4 miniOpenAIGrok 4.3xAIQwen3 MaxAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)148.8149.2 (best)142.4
ECI rank#56 of 148#55 of 148 (best)#91 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions86.9%88.8% (best)72.6%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics51.2% (best)42.8%19.0%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics88.9%93.3% (best)73.3%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions29.4%33.2%48.8% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.75 (best)$1.25$1.20
Output$4.50$2.50 (best)$6.00
Cached input$0.075 (best)$0.20—
Blended (3:1)$1.69$1.56 (best)$2.40
Long-context rateSame rateOver 200K: $2.50 / $5.00Same rate
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial xAI APIOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window400,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)262,144 tokens
Max output128,000 tokens (best)30,000 tokens65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesYesNo
PDFsNoYesNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningYeslow · medium · high · xhighYeslow · medium · highNo
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputYesYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietaryProprietary
API model IDgpt-5.4-minigrok-4.3qwen3-max
API providers29 (best)2716
ReleasedMar 17, 2026Apr 17, 2026Sep 23, 2025
Knowledge cutoffAug 31, 2025—Apr 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-5.4 mini$16.50
  • Grok 4.3$17.50
  • Qwen3 Max$24.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-5.4 mini, Grok 4.3 or Qwen3 Max?

Grok 4.3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against GPT-5.4 mini (63) and Qwen3 Max (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GPT-5.4 mini, Grok 4.3 or Qwen3 Max?

Grok 4.3 is cheaper at $1.25 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official xAI API price). GPT-5.4 mini costs $0.75 input / $4.50 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price); Qwen3 Max costs $1.20 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.56 per million tokens for Grok 4.3 versus $1.69 for GPT-5.4 mini (1.1× as much) and $2.40 for Qwen3 Max (1.5× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Grok 4.3 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Grok 4.3 149.2 (#55 of 148), GPT-5.4 mini 148.8 (#56 of 148) and Qwen3 Max 142.4 (#91 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (147.6–150.8 vs 147.1–150.5), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Grok 4.3 88.8%, GPT-5.4 mini 86.9%, Qwen3 Max 72.6%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — GPT-5.4 mini 51.2%, Grok 4.3 42.8%, Qwen3 Max 19.0%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Grok 4.3 93.3%, GPT-5.4 mini 88.9%, Qwen3 Max 73.3%; SimpleQA Verified — Qwen3 Max 48.8%, Grok 4.3 33.2%, GPT-5.4 mini 29.4%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.4 mini, Grok 4.3 and Qwen3 Max yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Grok 4.3 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?

Grok 4.3 has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5.4 mini and 262,144 for Qwen3 Max. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.4 mini up to 128,000, Grok 4.3 up to 30,000, Qwen3 Max up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-5.4 mini accepts text and images; Grok 4.3 accepts text, images and PDFs; Qwen3 Max accepts text. Grok 4.3 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. GPT-5.4 mini, Grok 4.3 and Qwen3 Max are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Grok 4.3 is the newest, released Apr 17, 2026. GPT-5.4 mini came out Mar 17, 2026; Qwen3 Max came out Sep 23, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.4 mini Aug 31, 2025, Qwen3 Max 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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