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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-5.4 nano vs Qwen3 8B

GPT-5.4 nano comes out ahead, 68 to 56 on our weighted score, though Qwen3 8B is 33% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    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 8B

    Released Apr 28, 2025

    56/100
    • ECI136.2
    • Price$0.18 / $0.70
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 8B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

GPT-5.4 nano is our pick

GPT-5.4 nano is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Qwen3 8B (56). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Qwen3 8B wins on price. 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 8B 136.2
  • Lowest priceQwen3 8BQwen3 8B $0.31 · GPT-5.4 nano $0.463 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-5.4 nanoGPT-5.4 nano 400,000 · Qwen3 8B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-5.4 nanoGPT-5.4 nano: Text, Images · Qwen3 8B: Text
  • Self-hostingQwen3 8BPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-5.4 nanoQwen3 8B
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%7361
Price25%6674
Inputs & features15%7035
Context window10%4424
Overall100%68/10056/100
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 8B specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-5.4 nanoOpenAIQwen3 8BAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)145.8 (best)136.2
ECI rank#75 of 148 (best)#113 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions78.5% (best)56.8%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics44.9%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics87.8% (best)56.1%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions11.7%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.20$0.18 (best)
Output$1.25$0.70 (best)
Cached input$0.02—
Blended (3:1)$0.463$0.31 (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)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYeslow · medium · high · xhighYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDgpt-5.4-nanoqwen3-8b
API providers26 (best)1
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 nano$4.50
  • Qwen3 8B$3.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-5.4 nano or Qwen3 8B?

GPT-5.4 nano is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Qwen3 8B (56). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Qwen3 8B wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GPT-5.4 nano or Qwen3 8B?

Qwen3 8B is cheaper at $0.18 input / $0.70 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). 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 $0.31 per million tokens for Qwen3 8B versus $0.463 for GPT-5.4 nano (1.5× 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 8B 136.2 (#113 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (143.2–147.7 vs 129.7–138.1), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-5.4 nano 78.5%, Qwen3 8B 56.8%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-5.4 nano 87.8%, Qwen3 8B 56.1%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.4 nano and Qwen3 8B 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 131,072 for Qwen3 8B. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.4 nano up to 128,000, Qwen3 8B up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-5.4 nano accepts text and images; Qwen3 8B accepts text. GPT-5.4 nano handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Qwen3 8B 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 8B came out Apr 28, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.4 nano Aug 31, 2025, Qwen3 8B 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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