ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen Turbo vs GPT-4o mini

Qwen Turbo comes out ahead, 48 to 43 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen Turbo

    Released Nov 1, 2024

    48/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.05 / $0.20
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Qwen Turbo

  2. OpenAI

    GPT-4o mini

    Released Jul 18, 2024

    43/100
    • ECI126.6
    • Price$0.15 / $0.60
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove GPT-4o mini

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen Turbo is our pick

Qwen Turbo is the better all-round choice, scoring 48/100 against GPT-4o mini (43). It leads on capability, price and context window. GPT-4o mini wins on inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025), because Qwen Turbo has no Capabilities Index score yet.

  • CapabilityQwen TurboShared benchmarks: Qwen Turbo 24.0% · GPT-4o mini 22.3%
  • Lowest priceQwen TurboQwen Turbo $0.087 · GPT-4o mini $0.263 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen TurboQwen Turbo 1,000,000 · GPT-4o mini 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4o miniQwen Turbo: Text · GPT-4o mini: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen TurboGPT-4o mini
CapabilityShared benchmarks50%2422
Price25%10077
Inputs & features15%3570
Context window10%6024
Overall100%48/10043/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Qwen Turbo vs GPT-4o mini specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen TurboAlibaba (Qwen)GPT-4o miniOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—126.6
ECI rank—#135 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions41.8% (best)37.7%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—0.7%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics6.1%6.9% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—8.3%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.05 (best)$0.15
Output$0.20 (best)$0.60
Cached input—$0.075
Blended (3:1)$0.087 (best)$0.263
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output16,384 tokens16,384 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDqwen-turbogpt-4o-mini
API providers321 (best)
ReleasedNov 1, 2024Jul 18, 2024
Knowledge cutoffApr 2024Sep 2023
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.

  • Qwen Turbo$0.90
  • GPT-4o mini$2.70
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen Turbo or GPT-4o mini?

Qwen Turbo is the better all-round choice, scoring 48/100 against GPT-4o mini (43). It leads on capability, price and context window. GPT-4o mini wins on inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025), because Qwen Turbo has no Capabilities Index score yet.

Which is cheaper, Qwen Turbo or GPT-4o mini?

Qwen Turbo is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GPT-4o mini costs $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.087 per million tokens for Qwen Turbo versus $0.263 for GPT-4o mini (3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Not every model here has a Capabilities Index score, so we compare the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025): Qwen Turbo 24.0% and GPT-4o mini 22.3%. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen Turbo 41.8%, GPT-4o mini 37.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-4o mini 6.9%, Qwen Turbo 6.1%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen Turbo and GPT-4o mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen Turbo 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?

Qwen Turbo has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 128,000 for GPT-4o mini. Maximum output per response: Qwen Turbo up to 16,384, GPT-4o mini up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen Turbo accepts text; GPT-4o mini accepts text, images and PDFs. GPT-4o mini handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Qwen Turbo and GPT-4o mini are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen Turbo is the newest, released Nov 1, 2024. GPT-4o mini came out Jul 18, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen Turbo Apr 2024, GPT-4o mini Sep 2023.

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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