Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 vs DeepSeek R1 0528 vs GPT OSS 120B
Too close to call on our weighted score (GPT OSS 120B 58, Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 57, DeepSeek R1 0528 53). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507
57/100- ECI138.8
- Price$0.199 / $0.60
- Context262K
DeepSeekDeepSeek R1 0528
53/100- ECI141.2
- Price$0.512 / $2.19
- Context164K
OpenAIGPT OSS 120B
58/100- ECI139.8
- Price$0.15 / $0.60
- Context131K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (GPT OSS 120B 58/100, Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 57/100, DeepSeek R1 0528 53/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DeepSeek R1 0528 for raw capability, GPT OSS 120B on price and Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityDeepSeek R1 0528Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek R1 0528 141.2 · GPT OSS 120B 139.8 · Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 138.8
- Lowest priceGPT OSS 120BGPT OSS 120B $0.263 · Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 $0.299 · DeepSeek R1 0528 $0.932 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 262,144 · DeepSeek R1 0528 163,840 · GPT OSS 120B 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507: Text · DeepSeek R1 0528: Text · GPT OSS 120B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 | DeepSeek R1 0528 | GPT OSS 120B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 63 | 66 | 64 |
| Price | 25% | 72 | 49 | 74 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 25 | 35 | 35 |
| Context window | 10% | 37 | 28 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 57/100 | 53/100 | 58/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507Alibaba (Qwen) | DeepSeek R1 0528DeepSeek | GPT OSS 120BOpenAI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 138.8 | 141.2 (best) | 139.8 |
| ECI rank | #118 of 165 | #108 of 165 (best) | #114 of 165 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 76.3% (best) | 75.8% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 66.4% | 88.9% (best) |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.199 | $0.512 | $0.15 (best) |
| Output | $0.60 (best) | $2.19 | $0.60 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.299 | $0.932 | $0.263 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 23 providers | Median of 16 providers | Median of 65 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens (best) | 163,840 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 16,384 tokens | 32,768 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenApache 2.0 | OpenMIT | Open |
| API model ID | — | — | — |
| API providers | 25 | 16 | 67 (best) |
| Released | Jul 21, 2025 | May 28, 2025 | Aug 5, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | Jun 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507$3.19
- DeepSeek R1 0528$9.50
- GPT OSS 120B$2.70
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507, DeepSeek R1 0528 or GPT OSS 120B?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (GPT OSS 120B 58/100, Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 57/100, DeepSeek R1 0528 53/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DeepSeek R1 0528 for raw capability, GPT OSS 120B on price and Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507, DeepSeek R1 0528 or GPT OSS 120B?
GPT OSS 120B is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (median across 65 API providers). Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 costs $0.199 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (median across 23 API providers); DeepSeek R1 0528 costs $0.512 input / $2.19 output per million tokens (median across 16 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.263 per million tokens for GPT OSS 120B versus $0.299 for Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 (1.1× as much) and $0.932 for DeepSeek R1 0528 (3.6× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
DeepSeek R1 0528 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek R1 0528 141.2 (#108 of 165), GPT OSS 120B 139.8 (#114 of 165) and Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 138.8 (#118 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (139.0–142.9 vs 135.6–142.2), so treat the gap as small.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507, DeepSeek R1 0528 and GPT OSS 120B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek R1 0528 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 163,840 for DeepSeek R1 0528 and 131,072 for GPT OSS 120B. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 up to 16,384, DeepSeek R1 0528 up to 32,768, GPT OSS 120B up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 accepts text; DeepSeek R1 0528 accepts text; GPT OSS 120B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights (Apache 2.0 and MIT), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
GPT OSS 120B is the newest, released Aug 5, 2025. Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 came out Jul 21, 2025; DeepSeek R1 0528 came out May 28, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT OSS 120B Jun 2024.
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 Nov 2, 2026.
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