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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs GPT-5.4 mini

GPT-5.4 mini comes out ahead, 63 to 54 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. 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
  2. Our pick

    OpenAI

    GPT-5.4 mini

    Released Mar 17, 2026

    63/100
    • ECI148.8
    • Price$0.75 / $4.50
    • Context400K
    Full specs Remove GPT-5.4 mini

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

GPT-5.4 mini is our pick

GPT-5.4 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityQwen3.6 Max PreviewCapabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 · GPT-5.4 mini 148.8
  • Lowest priceGPT-5.4 miniGPT-5.4 mini $1.69 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview $2.92 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-5.4 miniGPT-5.4 mini 400,000 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-5.4 miniQwen3.6 Max Preview: Text · GPT-5.4 mini: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.6 Max PreviewGPT-5.4 mini
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%7777
Price25%2839
Inputs & features15%3570
Context window10%3744
Overall100%54/10063/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs GPT-5.4 mini specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.6 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)GPT-5.4 miniOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)149.2 (best)148.8
ECI rank#54 of 148 (best)#56 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions87.4% (best)86.9%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—51.2%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics91.1% (best)88.9%
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues76.7%—
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions52.0% (best)29.4%
Price per million tokens
Input$1.30$0.75 (best)
Output$7.80$4.50 (best)
Cached input$0.13$0.075 (best)
Blended (3:1)$2.92$1.69 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens400,000 tokens (best)
Max output65,536 tokens128,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYeslow · medium · high · xhigh
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDqwen3.6-max-previewgpt-5.4-mini
API providers1029 (best)
ReleasedApr 20, 2026Mar 17, 2026
Knowledge cutoffApr 2025Aug 31, 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.

  • Qwen3.6 Max Preview$28.60
  • GPT-5.4 mini$16.50
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.6 Max Preview or GPT-5.4 mini?

GPT-5.4 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). 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, Qwen3.6 Max Preview or GPT-5.4 mini?

GPT-5.4 mini is cheaper at $0.75 input / $4.50 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). Qwen3.6 Max Preview costs $1.30 input / $7.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.69 per million tokens for GPT-5.4 mini versus $2.92 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview (1.7× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 (#54 of 148) and GPT-5.4 mini 148.8 (#56 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (147.6–152.0 vs 147.1–150.5), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 87.4%, GPT-5.4 mini 86.9%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 91.1%, GPT-5.4 mini 88.9%; SimpleQA Verified — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 52.0%, GPT-5.4 mini 29.4%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.4 mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 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-5.4 mini has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.6 Max Preview up to 65,536, GPT-5.4 mini up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview accepts text; GPT-5.4 mini accepts text and images. GPT-5.4 mini handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Qwen3.6 Max Preview and GPT-5.4 mini are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview is the newest, released Apr 20, 2026. GPT-5.4 mini came out Mar 17, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3.6 Max Preview Apr 2025, GPT-5.4 mini Aug 31, 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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