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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-5 vs Qwen3 32B

GPT-5 comes out ahead, 60 to 51 on our weighted score, though Qwen3 32B is 2.8× cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    OpenAI

    GPT-5

    Released Aug 7, 2025

    60/100
    • ECI150.0
    • Price$1.25 / $10.00
    • Context400K
  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 32B

    Released Apr 29, 2025

    51/100
    • ECI138.5
    • Price$0.70 / $2.80
    • Context131K
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01 — Verdict

GPT-5 is our pick

GPT-5 is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Qwen3 32B (51). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Qwen3 32B wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGPT-5Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5 150.0 · Qwen3 32B 138.5
  • Lowest priceQwen3 32BQwen3 32B $1.23 · GPT-5 $3.44 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-5GPT-5 400,000 · Qwen3 32B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-5GPT-5: Text, Images · Qwen3 32B: Text
  • Self-hostingQwen3 32BPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-5Qwen3 32B
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%7864
Price25%2446
Inputs & features15%7035
Context window10%4424
Overall100%60/10051/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

GPT-5 vs Qwen3 32B specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-5OpenAIQwen3 32BAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)150.0 (best)138.5
ECI rank#50 of 148 (best)#106 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions86.2% (best)65.7%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics55.4%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics91.4% (best)66.9%
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues73.6%—
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions50.1%—
Price per million tokens
Input$1.25$0.70 (best)
Output$10.00$2.80 (best)
Cached input$0.125—
Blended (3:1)$3.44$1.23 (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)16,384 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesminimal · low · medium · highYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDgpt-5qwen3-32b
API providers24 (best)14
ReleasedAug 7, 2025Apr 29, 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$32.50
  • Qwen3 32B$12.60
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-5 or Qwen3 32B?

GPT-5 is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Qwen3 32B (51). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Qwen3 32B wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GPT-5 or Qwen3 32B?

Qwen3 32B is cheaper at $0.70 input / $2.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GPT-5 costs $1.25 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.23 per million tokens for Qwen3 32B versus $3.44 for GPT-5 (2.8× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GPT-5 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5 150.0 (#50 of 148) and Qwen3 32B 138.5 (#106 of 148). On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-5 86.2%, Qwen3 32B 65.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-5 91.4%, Qwen3 32B 66.9%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 32B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-5 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 has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 131,072 for Qwen3 32B. Maximum output per response: GPT-5 up to 128,000, Qwen3 32B up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-5 accepts text and images; Qwen3 32B accepts text. GPT-5 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Qwen3 32B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-5 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

GPT-5 is the newest, released Aug 7, 2025. Qwen3 32B came out Apr 29, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5 Sep 30, 2024, Qwen3 32B 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.