GPT-5.4 nano vs Qwen3.5 9B
Qwen3.5 9B comes out ahead, 72 to 68 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
OpenAIGPT-5.4 nano
68/100- ECI145.8
- Price$0.20 / $1.25
- Context400K
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.5 9B
72/100- ECI139.5
- Price$0.10 / $0.15
- Context262K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Qwen3.5 9B is our pick
Qwen3.5 9B is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against GPT-5.4 nano (68). It leads on price and inputs & features. GPT-5.4 nano wins on capability and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGPT-5.4 nanoCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.4 nano 145.8 · Qwen3.5 9B 139.5
- Lowest priceQwen3.5 9BQwen3.5 9B $0.113 · GPT-5.4 nano $0.463 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-5.4 nanoGPT-5.4 nano 400,000 · Qwen3.5 9B 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen3.5 9BGPT-5.4 nano: Text, Images · Qwen3.5 9B: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingQwen3.5 9BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GPT-5.4 nano | Qwen3.5 9B |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 73 | 65 |
| Price | 25% | 66 | 95 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 80 |
| Context window | 10% | 44 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 68/100 | 72/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-5.4 nanoOpenAI | Qwen3.5 9BAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 145.8 (best) | 139.5 |
| ECI rank | #75 of 148 (best) | #101 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 78.5% | 79.0% (best) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 44.9% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 87.8% (best) | 61.7% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 11.7% | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.20 | $0.10 (best) |
| Output | $1.25 | $0.15 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.02 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.463 | $0.113 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Median of 14 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 400,000 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | gpt-5.4-nano | — |
| API providers | 26 (best) | 15 |
| Released | Mar 17, 2026 | Feb 23, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Aug 31, 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-5.4 nano$4.50
- Qwen3.5 9B$1.30
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-5.4 nano or Qwen3.5 9B?
Qwen3.5 9B is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against GPT-5.4 nano (68). It leads on price and inputs & features. GPT-5.4 nano wins on capability and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GPT-5.4 nano or Qwen3.5 9B?
Qwen3.5 9B is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 14 API providers). GPT-5.4 nano costs $0.20 input / $1.25 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.113 per million tokens for Qwen3.5 9B versus $0.463 for GPT-5.4 nano (4.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
GPT-5.4 nano scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.4 nano 145.8 (#75 of 148) and Qwen3.5 9B 139.5 (#101 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (143.2–147.7 vs 136.5–141.3), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen3.5 9B 79.0%, GPT-5.4 nano 78.5%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-5.4 nano 87.8%, Qwen3.5 9B 61.7%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.4 nano and Qwen3.5 9B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-5.4 nano 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 nano has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3.5 9B. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.4 nano up to 128,000, Qwen3.5 9B up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-5.4 nano accepts text and images; Qwen3.5 9B accepts text, images and video. Qwen3.5 9B handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Qwen3.5 9B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-5.4 nano is proprietary.
Which is newer?
GPT-5.4 nano is the newest, released Mar 17, 2026. Qwen3.5 9B came out Feb 23, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.4 nano Aug 31, 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.
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