GPT-5 Pro vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview
Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen3.6 Max Preview 54, GPT-5 Pro 54). The right pick depends on what you value most.
OpenAIGPT-5 Pro
54/100- ECI150.3
- Price$15.00 / $120.00
- Context400K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.6 Max Preview
54/100- ECI149.2
- Price$1.30 / $7.80
- Context262K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen3.6 Max Preview 54/100, GPT-5 Pro 54/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-5 Pro for raw capability and Qwen3.6 Max Preview on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGPT-5 ProCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5 Pro 150.3 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2
- Lowest priceQwen3.6 Max PreviewQwen3.6 Max Preview $2.92 · GPT-5 Pro $41.25 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-5 ProGPT-5 Pro 400,000 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-5 ProGPT-5 Pro: Text, Images · Qwen3.6 Max Preview: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | GPT-5 Pro | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 78 | 77 |
| Price | 25% | 0 | 28 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 35 |
| Context window | 10% | 44 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 54/100 | 54/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-5 ProOpenAI | Qwen3.6 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 150.3 (best) | 149.2 |
| ECI rank | #46 of 148 (best) | #54 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 87.4% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 55.8% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 91.1% |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | — | 76.7% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | — | 52.0% |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $15.00 | $1.30 (best) |
| Output | $120.00 | $7.80 (best) |
| Cached input | — | $0.13 |
| Blended (3:1) | $41.25 | $2.92 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 400,000 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 272,000 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeshigh | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gpt-5-pro | qwen3.6-max-preview |
| API providers | 12 (best) | 10 |
| Released | Oct 6, 2025 | Apr 20, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 30, 2024 | Apr 2025 |
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 Pro$390.00
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview$28.60
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-5 Pro or Qwen3.6 Max Preview?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen3.6 Max Preview 54/100, GPT-5 Pro 54/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-5 Pro for raw capability and Qwen3.6 Max Preview on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GPT-5 Pro or Qwen3.6 Max Preview?
Qwen3.6 Max Preview is cheaper at $1.30 input / $7.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GPT-5 Pro costs $15.00 input / $120.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $2.92 per million tokens for Qwen3.6 Max Preview versus $41.25 for GPT-5 Pro (14× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
GPT-5 Pro scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5 Pro 150.3 (#46 of 148) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 (#54 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (148.5–152.8 vs 147.6–152.0), so treat the gap as small.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5 Pro yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-5 Pro 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 Pro has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview. Maximum output per response: GPT-5 Pro up to 272,000, Qwen3.6 Max Preview up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-5 Pro accepts text and images; Qwen3.6 Max Preview accepts text. GPT-5 Pro handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. GPT-5 Pro and Qwen3.6 Max Preview are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Qwen3.6 Max Preview is the newest, released Apr 20, 2026. GPT-5 Pro came out Oct 6, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5 Pro Sep 30, 2024, Qwen3.6 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 Oct 4, 2026.
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