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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

GPT-5 Chat vs Qwen MT Plus vs Qwen3 Max Preview

Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen3 Max Preview 33, GPT-5 Chat 31, Qwen MT Plus 11). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. OpenAI

    GPT-5 Chat

    Released Aug 7, 2025

    31/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.25 / $10.00
    • Context400K
  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen MT Plus

    Released Jul 24, 2025

    11/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$2.46 / $7.37
    • Context16K
  3. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 Max Preview

    Released Sep 5, 2025

    33/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.975 / $4.14
    • Context262K
01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Qwen3 Max Preview 33/100, GPT-5 Chat 31/100, Qwen MT Plus 11/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3 Max Preview on price and GPT-5 Chat for long inputs. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

  • CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
  • Lowest priceQwen3 Max PreviewQwen3 Max Preview $1.77 · GPT-5 Chat $3.44 · Qwen MT Plus $3.69 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-5 ChatGPT-5 Chat 400,000 · Qwen3 Max Preview 262,144 · Qwen MT Plus 16,384 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-5 ChatGPT-5 Chat: Text, Images · Qwen MT Plus: Text · Qwen3 Max Preview: Text
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-5 ChatQwen MT PlusQwen3 Max Preview
Price50%232237
Inputs & features30%35025
Context window20%44037
Overall100%31/10011/10033/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

GPT-5 Chat vs Qwen MT Plus vs Qwen3 Max Preview specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-5 ChatOpenAIQwen MT PlusAlibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)———
ECI rank———
Price per million tokens
Input$1.25$2.46$0.975 (best)
Output$10.00$7.37$4.14 (best)
Cached input———
Blended (3:1)$3.44$3.69$1.77 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 5 providersOfficial Alibaba APIMedian of 2 providers
Limits
Context window400,000 tokens (best)16,384 tokens262,144 tokens
Max output128,000 tokens (best)8,192 tokens32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesNoNo
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningYesNoNo
Tool callingNoNoYes
Structured outputNoNoNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietaryProprietary
API model ID—qwen-mt-plus—
API providers5 (best)32
ReleasedAug 7, 2025Jul 24, 2025Sep 5, 2025
Knowledge cutoffSep 30, 2024—Apr 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 Chat$32.50
  • Qwen MT Plus$39.34
  • Qwen3 Max Preview$18.03
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-5 Chat, Qwen MT Plus or Qwen3 Max Preview?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Qwen3 Max Preview 33/100, GPT-5 Chat 31/100, Qwen MT Plus 11/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3 Max Preview on price and GPT-5 Chat for long inputs. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, GPT-5 Chat, Qwen MT Plus or Qwen3 Max Preview?

Qwen3 Max Preview is cheaper at $0.975 input / $4.14 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). GPT-5 Chat costs $1.25 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers); Qwen MT Plus costs $2.46 input / $7.37 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.77 per million tokens for Qwen3 Max Preview versus $3.44 for GPT-5 Chat (1.9× as much) and $3.69 for Qwen MT Plus (2.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. GPT-5 Chat has not been scored yet, Qwen MT Plus has not been scored yet and Qwen3 Max Preview has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5 Chat, Qwen MT Plus and Qwen3 Max Preview yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that GPT-5 Chat and Qwen MT Plus does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

GPT-5 Chat has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3 Max Preview and 16,384 for Qwen MT Plus. Maximum output per response: GPT-5 Chat up to 128,000, Qwen MT Plus up to 8,192, Qwen3 Max Preview up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-5 Chat accepts text and images; Qwen MT Plus accepts text; Qwen3 Max Preview accepts text. GPT-5 Chat handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. GPT-5 Chat, Qwen MT Plus and Qwen3 Max Preview are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen3 Max Preview is the newest, released Sep 5, 2025. GPT-5 Chat came out Aug 7, 2025; Qwen MT Plus came out Jul 24, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5 Chat Sep 30, 2024, Qwen3 Max Preview 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 Nov 2, 2026.