ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-5 vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs Gemini 2.5 Pro

Gemini 2.5 Pro comes out ahead, 63 to 60 and 54 on our weighted score, though Qwen3.6 Max Preview is 15% cheaper per token.

  1. OpenAI

    GPT-5

    Released Aug 7, 2025

    60/100
    • ECI150.0
    • Price$1.25 / $10.00
    • Context400K
    Full specs Remove GPT-5

  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.6 Max Preview

    Released Apr 20, 2026

    54/100
    • ECI149.2
    • Price$1.30 / $7.80
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.6 Max Preview
  3. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Pro

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    63/100
    • ECI145.3
    • Price$1.25 / $10.00
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Pro
01 — Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Pro is our pick

Gemini 2.5 Pro is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against GPT-5 (60) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Qwen3.6 Max Preview wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGPT-5Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5 150.0 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 · Gemini 2.5 Pro 145.3
  • Lowest priceQwen3.6 Max PreviewQwen3.6 Max Preview $2.92 · GPT-5 $3.44 · Gemini 2.5 Pro $3.44 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 2.5 ProGemini 2.5 Pro 1,048,576 · GPT-5 400,000 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 2.5 ProGPT-5: Text, Images · Qwen3.6 Max Preview: Text · Gemini 2.5 Pro: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-5Qwen3.6 Max PreviewGemini 2.5 Pro
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%787772
Price25%242824
Inputs & features15%7035100
Context window10%443761
Overall100%60/10054/10063/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

GPT-5 vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs Gemini 2.5 Pro specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-5OpenAIQwen3.6 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)Gemini 2.5 ProGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)150.0 (best)149.2145.3
ECI rank#50 of 148 (best)#54 of 148#78 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions86.2%87.4% (best)85.3%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics55.4% (best)—24.6%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics91.4% (best)91.1%84.7%
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues73.6%76.7% (best)57.6%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions50.1%52.0% (best)—
Price per million tokens
Input$1.25 (best)$1.30$1.25 (best)
Output$10.00$7.80 (best)$10.00
Cached input$0.125 (best)$0.13$0.125 (best)
Blended (3:1)$3.44$2.92 (best)$3.44
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateOver 200K: $2.50 / $15.00
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial Google API
Limits
Context window400,000 tokens262,144 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)
Max output128,000 tokens (best)65,536 tokens65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesNoYes
PDFsNoNoYes
AudioNoNoYes
VideoNoNoYes
ReasoningYesminimal · low · medium · highYesYes
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputYesNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietaryProprietary
API model IDgpt-5qwen3.6-max-previewgemini-2.5-pro
API providers24 (best)1022
ReleasedAug 7, 2025Apr 20, 2026Jun 17, 2025
Knowledge cutoffSep 30, 2024Apr 2025Jan 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
  • Qwen3.6 Max Preview$28.60
  • Gemini 2.5 Pro$32.50
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-5, Qwen3.6 Max Preview or Gemini 2.5 Pro?

Gemini 2.5 Pro is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against GPT-5 (60) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Qwen3.6 Max Preview wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GPT-5, Qwen3.6 Max Preview or Gemini 2.5 Pro?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview is cheaper at $1.30 input / $7.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GPT-5 costs $1.25 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price); Gemini 2.5 Pro costs $1.25 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official Google 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 $3.44 for GPT-5 (1.2× as much) and $3.44 for Gemini 2.5 Pro (1.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GPT-5 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5 150.0 (#50 of 148), Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 (#54 of 148) and Gemini 2.5 Pro 145.3 (#78 of 148). On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 87.4%, GPT-5 86.2%, Gemini 2.5 Pro 85.3%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-5 91.4%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 91.1%, Gemini 2.5 Pro 84.7%; SWE-bench Verified — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 76.7%, GPT-5 73.6%, Gemini 2.5 Pro 57.6%.

Which is better for coding?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview resolves more real GitHub issues on SWE-bench Verified: Qwen3.6 Max Preview 76.7%, GPT-5 73.6% and Gemini 2.5 Pro 57.6%. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 2.5 Pro has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5 and 262,144 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview. Maximum output per response: GPT-5 up to 128,000, Qwen3.6 Max Preview up to 65,536, Gemini 2.5 Pro up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-5 accepts text and images; Qwen3.6 Max Preview accepts text; Gemini 2.5 Pro accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Gemini 2.5 Pro handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. GPT-5, Qwen3.6 Max Preview and Gemini 2.5 Pro 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 came out Aug 7, 2025; Gemini 2.5 Pro came out Jun 17, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5 Sep 30, 2024, Qwen3.6 Max Preview Apr 2025, Gemini 2.5 Pro Jan 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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