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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-5.4 nano vs Qwen3.6 Plus

Too close to call on our weighted score (GPT-5.4 nano 68, Qwen3.6 Plus 66). 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 Plus

    Released Apr 2, 2026

    66/100
    • ECI147.6
    • Price$0.50 / $3.00
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.6 Plus

  3. Add a model

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01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (GPT-5.4 nano 68/100, Qwen3.6 Plus 66/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3.6 Plus for raw capability and GPT-5.4 nano on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityQwen3.6 PlusCapabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.6 Plus 147.6 · GPT-5.4 nano 145.8
  • Lowest priceGPT-5.4 nanoGPT-5.4 nano $0.463 · Qwen3.6 Plus $1.13 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.6 PlusQwen3.6 Plus 1,000,000 · GPT-5.4 nano 400,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.6 PlusGPT-5.4 nano: Text, Images · Qwen3.6 Plus: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-5.4 nanoQwen3.6 Plus
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%7375
Price25%6647
Inputs & features15%7070
Context window10%4460
Overall100%68/10066/100
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 Plus specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-5.4 nanoOpenAIQwen3.6 PlusAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)145.8147.6 (best)
ECI rank#75 of 148#59 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions78.5%88.4% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics44.9% (best)38.3%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics87.8%93.3% (best)
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues—57.9%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions11.7%44.1% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.20 (best)$0.50
Output$1.25 (best)$3.00
Cached input$0.02 (best)$0.05
Blended (3:1)$0.463 (best)$1.13
Long-context rateSame rateOver 256K: $2.00 / $6.00
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window400,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)
Max output128,000 tokens (best)65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYeslow · medium · high · xhighYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDgpt-5.4-nanoqwen3.6-plus
API providers26 (best)18
ReleasedMar 17, 2026Apr 2, 2026
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 nano$4.50
  • Qwen3.6 Plus$11.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-5.4 nano or Qwen3.6 Plus?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (GPT-5.4 nano 68/100, Qwen3.6 Plus 66/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3.6 Plus for raw capability and GPT-5.4 nano on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GPT-5.4 nano or Qwen3.6 Plus?

GPT-5.4 nano is cheaper at $0.20 input / $1.25 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). Qwen3.6 Plus costs $0.50 input / $3.00 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 $1.13 for Qwen3.6 Plus (2.4× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Qwen3.6 Plus scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.6 Plus 147.6 (#59 of 148) and GPT-5.4 nano 145.8 (#75 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (145.4–149.3 vs 143.2–147.7), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen3.6 Plus 88.4%, GPT-5.4 nano 78.5%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — GPT-5.4 nano 44.9%, Qwen3.6 Plus 38.3%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3.6 Plus 93.3%, GPT-5.4 nano 87.8%; SimpleQA Verified — Qwen3.6 Plus 44.1%, GPT-5.4 nano 11.7%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.4 nano yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen3.6 Plus 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?

Qwen3.6 Plus has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5.4 nano. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.4 nano up to 128,000, Qwen3.6 Plus up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

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

Are any of these open source?

No. GPT-5.4 nano and Qwen3.6 Plus are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.6 Plus is the newest, released Apr 2, 2026. GPT-5.4 nano came out Mar 17, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.4 nano Aug 31, 2025, Qwen3.6 Plus 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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