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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-5.4 mini vs Qwen3 235B-A22B

GPT-5.4 mini comes out ahead, 63 to 51 on our weighted score, though Qwen3 235B-A22B is 27% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    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. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 235B-A22B

    Released Apr 28, 2025

    51/100
    • ECI139.4
    • Price$0.70 / $2.80
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 235B-A22B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

GPT-5.4 mini is our pick

GPT-5.4 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against Qwen3 235B-A22B (51). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Qwen3 235B-A22B wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGPT-5.4 miniCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.4 mini 148.8 · Qwen3 235B-A22B 139.4
  • Lowest priceQwen3 235B-A22BQwen3 235B-A22B $1.23 · GPT-5.4 mini $1.69 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-5.4 miniGPT-5.4 mini 400,000 · Qwen3 235B-A22B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-5.4 miniGPT-5.4 mini: Text, Images · Qwen3 235B-A22B: Text
  • Self-hostingQwen3 235B-A22BPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-5.4 miniQwen3 235B-A22B
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%7765
Price25%3946
Inputs & features15%7035
Context window10%4424
Overall100%63/10051/100
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 Qwen3 235B-A22B specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-5.4 miniOpenAIQwen3 235B-A22BAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)148.8 (best)139.4
ECI rank#56 of 148 (best)#103 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions86.9% (best)70.7%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics51.2%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics88.9%—
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions29.4%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.75$0.70 (best)
Output$4.50$2.80 (best)
Cached input$0.075—
Blended (3:1)$1.69$1.23 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window400,000 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output128,000 tokens (best)16,384 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYeslow · medium · high · xhighYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDgpt-5.4-miniqwen3-235b-a22b
API providers29 (best)7
ReleasedMar 17, 2026Apr 28, 2025
Knowledge cutoffAug 31, 2025Apr 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
  • Qwen3 235B-A22B$12.60
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-5.4 mini or Qwen3 235B-A22B?

GPT-5.4 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against Qwen3 235B-A22B (51). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Qwen3 235B-A22B wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GPT-5.4 mini or Qwen3 235B-A22B?

Qwen3 235B-A22B is cheaper at $0.70 input / $2.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GPT-5.4 mini costs $0.75 input / $4.50 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.23 per million tokens for Qwen3 235B-A22B versus $1.69 for GPT-5.4 mini (1.4× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GPT-5.4 mini scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.4 mini 148.8 (#56 of 148) and Qwen3 235B-A22B 139.4 (#103 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (147.1–150.5 vs 135.2–140.8), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-5.4 mini 86.9%, Qwen3 235B-A22B 70.7%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.4 mini and Qwen3 235B-A22B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-5.4 mini 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?

GPT-5.4 mini has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 131,072 for Qwen3 235B-A22B. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.4 mini up to 128,000, Qwen3 235B-A22B up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-5.4 mini accepts text and images; Qwen3 235B-A22B accepts text. GPT-5.4 mini handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Qwen3 235B-A22B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-5.4 mini is proprietary.

Which is newer?

GPT-5.4 mini is the newest, released Mar 17, 2026. Qwen3 235B-A22B came out Apr 28, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.4 mini Aug 31, 2025, Qwen3 235B-A22B 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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