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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-5 Chat vs Qwen3 Coder Plus

Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen3 Coder Plus 37, GPT-5 Chat 34). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. OpenAI

    GPT-5 Chat

    Released Aug 7, 2025

    34/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.25 / $10.00
    • Context400K
  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 Coder Plus

    Released Jul 23, 2025

    37/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.00 / $5.00
    • Context1.05M
  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 3 points (Qwen3 Coder Plus 37/100, GPT-5 Chat 34/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3 Coder Plus on price and Qwen3 Coder Plus 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 Coder PlusQwen3 Coder Plus $2.00 · GPT-5 Chat $3.44 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3 Coder PlusQwen3 Coder Plus 1,048,576 · GPT-5 Chat 400,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-5 ChatGPT-5 Chat: Text, Images · Qwen3 Coder Plus: Text
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-5 ChatQwen3 Coder Plus
Price50%2436
Inputs & features30%4525
Context window20%4461
Overall100%34/10037/100

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 Qwen3 Coder Plus specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-5 ChatOpenAIQwen3 Coder PlusAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$1.25$1.00 (best)
Output$10.00$5.00 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$3.44$2.00 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 2 providersOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window400,000 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)
Max output128,000 tokens (best)65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingNoYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model ID—qwen3-coder-plus
API providers211 (best)
ReleasedAug 7, 2025Jul 23, 2025
Knowledge cutoffSep 30, 2024Apr 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
  • Qwen3 Coder Plus$20.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-5 Chat or Qwen3 Coder Plus?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (Qwen3 Coder Plus 37/100, GPT-5 Chat 34/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3 Coder Plus on price and Qwen3 Coder Plus 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 or Qwen3 Coder Plus?

Qwen3 Coder Plus is cheaper at $1.00 input / $5.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GPT-5 Chat costs $1.25 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $2.00 per million tokens for Qwen3 Coder Plus versus $3.44 for GPT-5 Chat (1.7× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. GPT-5 Chat has not been scored yet and Qwen3 Coder Plus has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

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

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3 Coder Plus has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5 Chat. Maximum output per response: GPT-5 Chat up to 128,000, Qwen3 Coder Plus up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-5 Chat accepts text and images; Qwen3 Coder Plus accepts text. GPT-5 Chat handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. GPT-5 Chat and Qwen3 Coder Plus are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

GPT-5 Chat is the newest, released Aug 7, 2025. Qwen3 Coder Plus came out Jul 23, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5 Chat Sep 30, 2024, Qwen3 Coder 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.