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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3 235B-A22B vs GPT-4.1 mini

GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 60 to 51 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 235B-A22B

    Released Apr 28, 2025

    51/100
    • ECI139.4
    • Price$0.70 / $2.80
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 235B-A22B
  2. Our pick

    OpenAI

    GPT-4.1 mini

    Released Apr 14, 2025

    60/100
    • ECI135.0
    • Price$0.40 / $1.60
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove GPT-4.1 mini

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

GPT-4.1 mini is our pick

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Qwen3 235B-A22B (51). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. Qwen3 235B-A22B wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityQwen3 235B-A22BCapabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3 235B-A22B 139.4 · GPT-4.1 mini 135.0
  • Lowest priceGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · Qwen3 235B-A22B $1.23 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · Qwen3 235B-A22B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniQwen3 235B-A22B: Text · GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingQwen3 235B-A22BPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 235B-A22BGPT-4.1 mini
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6559
Price25%4657
Inputs & features15%3570
Context window10%2461
Overall100%51/10060/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Qwen3 235B-A22B vs GPT-4.1 mini specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 235B-A22BAlibaba (Qwen)GPT-4.1 miniOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)139.4 (best)135.0
ECI rank#103 of 148 (best)#115 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions70.7% (best)65.9%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—6.7%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—44.7%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—12.7%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.70$0.40 (best)
Output$2.80$1.60 (best)
Cached input—$0.10
Blended (3:1)$1.23$0.70 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens1,047,576 tokens (best)
Max output16,384 tokens32,768 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model IDqwen3-235b-a22bgpt-4.1-mini
API providers724 (best)
ReleasedApr 28, 2025Apr 14, 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 2025Apr 2024
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.

  • Qwen3 235B-A22B$12.60
  • GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 235B-A22B or GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Qwen3 235B-A22B (51). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. Qwen3 235B-A22B wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3 235B-A22B or GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-4.1 mini is cheaper at $0.40 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). Qwen3 235B-A22B costs $0.70 input / $2.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.70 per million tokens for GPT-4.1 mini versus $1.23 for Qwen3 235B-A22B (1.8× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Qwen3 235B-A22B scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3 235B-A22B 139.4 (#103 of 148) and GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 (#115 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (135.2–140.8 vs 131.2–136.6), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen3 235B-A22B 70.7%, GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 235B-A22B and GPT-4.1 mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen3 235B-A22B 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-4.1 mini has the largest context window at 1,047,576 tokens, against 131,072 for Qwen3 235B-A22B. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 235B-A22B up to 16,384, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 235B-A22B accepts text; GPT-4.1 mini accepts text, images and PDFs. GPT-4.1 mini handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Qwen3 235B-A22B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 mini is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3 235B-A22B is the newest, released Apr 28, 2025. GPT-4.1 mini came out Apr 14, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 235B-A22B Apr 2025, GPT-4.1 mini Apr 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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