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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-5.4 nano vs Qwen3.6 35B-A3B

Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 68, GPT-5.4 nano 68). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. OpenAI

    GPT-5.4 nano

    Released Mar 17, 2026

    68/100
    • ECI145.8
    • Price$0.20 / $1.25
    • Context400K
    Full specs Remove GPT-5.4 nano

  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.6 35B-A3B

    Released Apr 17, 2026

    68/100
    • ECI143.9
    • Price$0.248 / $1.49
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.6 35B-A3B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 68/100, GPT-5.4 nano 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-5.4 nano for raw capability. 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 · Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 143.9
  • Lowest priceGPT-5.4 nanoGPT-5.4 nano $0.463 · Qwen3.6 35B-A3B $0.557 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-5.4 nanoGPT-5.4 nano 400,000 · Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.6 35B-A3BGPT-5.4 nano: Text, Images · Qwen3.6 35B-A3B: Text, Images, Audio, Video
  • Self-hostingQwen3.6 35B-A3BPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-5.4 nanoQwen3.6 35B-A3B
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%7370
Price25%6662
Inputs & features15%7090
Context window10%4437
Overall100%68/10068/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

GPT-5.4 nano vs Qwen3.6 35B-A3B specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-5.4 nanoOpenAIQwen3.6 35B-A3BAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)145.8 (best)143.9
ECI rank#75 of 148 (best)#83 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions78.5%84.9% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics44.9% (best)20.4%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics87.8% (best)86.7%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions11.7%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.20 (best)$0.248
Output$1.25 (best)$1.49
Cached input$0.02—
Blended (3:1)$0.463 (best)$0.557
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window400,000 tokens (best)262,144 tokens
Max output128,000 tokens (best)65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoYes
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYeslow · medium · high · xhighYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDgpt-5.4-nanoqwen3.6-35b-a3b
API providers2634 (best)
ReleasedMar 17, 2026Apr 17, 2026
Knowledge cutoffAug 31, 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 nano$4.50
  • Qwen3.6 35B-A3B$5.45
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-5.4 nano or Qwen3.6 35B-A3B?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 68/100, GPT-5.4 nano 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-5.4 nano for raw capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GPT-5.4 nano or Qwen3.6 35B-A3B?

GPT-5.4 nano is cheaper at $0.20 input / $1.25 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). Qwen3.6 35B-A3B costs $0.248 input / $1.49 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.463 per million tokens for GPT-5.4 nano versus $0.557 for Qwen3.6 35B-A3B (1.2× 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 Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 143.9 (#83 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (143.2–147.7 vs 141.2–146.0), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 84.9%, GPT-5.4 nano 78.5%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — GPT-5.4 nano 44.9%, Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 20.4%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-5.4 nano 87.8%, Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 86.7%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.4 nano and Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 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 Qwen3.6 35B-A3B. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.4 nano up to 128,000, Qwen3.6 35B-A3B up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-5.4 nano accepts text and images; Qwen3.6 35B-A3B accepts text, images, audio and video. Qwen3.6 35B-A3B handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Qwen3.6 35B-A3B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-5.4 nano is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.6 35B-A3B is the newest, released Apr 17, 2026. GPT-5.4 nano came out Mar 17, 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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