ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3.5 9B vs GPT OSS 120B

Qwen3.5 9B comes out ahead, 72 to 61 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.5 9B

    Released Feb 23, 2026

    72/100
    • ECI139.5
    • Price$0.10 / $0.15
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.5 9B

  2. OpenAI

    GPT OSS 120B

    Released Aug 5, 2025

    61/100
    • ECI140.0
    • Price$0.15 / $0.60
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove GPT OSS 120B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3.5 9B is our pick

Qwen3.5 9B is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against GPT OSS 120B (61). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGPT OSS 120BCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT OSS 120B 140.0 · Qwen3.5 9B 139.5
  • Lowest priceQwen3.5 9BQwen3.5 9B $0.113 · GPT OSS 120B $0.263 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.5 9BQwen3.5 9B 262,144 · GPT OSS 120B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.5 9BQwen3.5 9B: Text, Images, Video · GPT OSS 120B: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.5 9BGPT OSS 120B
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6565
Price25%9577
Inputs & features15%8045
Context window10%3724
Overall100%72/10061/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Qwen3.5 9B vs GPT OSS 120B specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.5 9BAlibaba (Qwen)GPT OSS 120BOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)139.5140.0 (best)
ECI rank#101 of 148#99 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions79.0% (best)75.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics61.7%88.9% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.10 (best)$0.15
Output$0.15 (best)$0.60
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.113 (best)$0.263
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 14 providersMedian of 36 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens (best)32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID——
API providers1539 (best)
ReleasedFeb 23, 2026Aug 5, 2025
Knowledge cutoff——
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.

  • Qwen3.5 9B$1.30
  • GPT OSS 120B$2.70
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.5 9B or GPT OSS 120B?

Qwen3.5 9B is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against GPT OSS 120B (61). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3.5 9B or GPT OSS 120B?

Qwen3.5 9B is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 14 API providers). GPT OSS 120B costs $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (median across 36 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.113 per million tokens for Qwen3.5 9B versus $0.263 for GPT OSS 120B (2.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GPT OSS 120B scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT OSS 120B 140.0 (#99 of 148) and Qwen3.5 9B 139.5 (#101 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (135.3–142.3 vs 136.5–141.3), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen3.5 9B 79.0%, GPT OSS 120B 75.8%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT OSS 120B 88.9%, Qwen3.5 9B 61.7%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.5 9B and GPT OSS 120B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT OSS 120B 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?

Qwen3.5 9B has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for GPT OSS 120B. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.5 9B up to 65,536, GPT OSS 120B up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.5 9B accepts text, images and video; GPT OSS 120B accepts text. Qwen3.5 9B handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.5 9B is the newest, released Feb 23, 2026. GPT OSS 120B came out Aug 5, 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

Related comparisons