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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3 8B vs DeepSeek V3 0324 vs GPT-4.1 mini

GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 60 to 56 and 54 on our weighted score, though Qwen3 8B is 2.3× cheaper per token.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 8B

    Released Apr 28, 2025

    56/100
    • ECI136.2
    • Price$0.18 / $0.70
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 8B

  2. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek V3 0324

    Released Mar 24, 2025

    54/100
    • ECI135.9
    • Price$0.24 / $0.90
    • Context164K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek V3 0324
  3. 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
01 — Verdict

GPT-4.1 mini is our pick

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Qwen3 8B (56) and DeepSeek V3 0324 (54). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Qwen3 8B wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityQwen3 8BCapabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3 8B 136.2 · DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 · GPT-4.1 mini 135.0
  • Lowest priceQwen3 8BQwen3 8B $0.31 · DeepSeek V3 0324 $0.405 · GPT-4.1 mini $0.70 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · DeepSeek V3 0324 163,840 · Qwen3 8B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniQwen3 8B: Text · DeepSeek V3 0324: Text · GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingQwen3 8B and DeepSeek V3 0324Publishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 8BDeepSeek V3 0324GPT-4.1 mini
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%616059
Price25%746857
Inputs & features15%352570
Context window10%242861
Overall100%56/10054/10060/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Qwen3 8B vs DeepSeek V3 0324 vs GPT-4.1 mini specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 8BAlibaba (Qwen)DeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeekGPT-4.1 miniOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)136.2 (best)135.9135.0
ECI rank#113 of 148 (best)#114 of 148#115 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions56.8%67.6% (best)65.9%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics——6.7%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics56.1% (best)37.8%44.7%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions——12.7%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.18 (best)$0.24$0.40
Output$0.70 (best)$0.90$1.60
Cached input——$0.10
Blended (3:1)$0.31 (best)$0.405$0.70
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIMedian of 5 providersOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens163,840 tokens1,047,576 tokens (best)
Max output8,192 tokens163,840 tokens (best)32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoNoYes
PDFsNoNoYes
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningYesNoNo
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenProprietary
API model IDqwen3-8b—gpt-4.1-mini
API providers1524 (best)
ReleasedApr 28, 2025Mar 24, 2025Apr 14, 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 2025—Apr 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 8B$3.20
  • DeepSeek V3 0324$4.20
  • GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 8B, DeepSeek V3 0324 or GPT-4.1 mini?

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Qwen3 8B (56) and DeepSeek V3 0324 (54). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Qwen3 8B wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3 8B, DeepSeek V3 0324 or GPT-4.1 mini?

Qwen3 8B is cheaper at $0.18 input / $0.70 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). DeepSeek V3 0324 costs $0.24 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers); GPT-4.1 mini costs $0.40 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.31 per million tokens for Qwen3 8B versus $0.405 for DeepSeek V3 0324 (1.3× as much) and $0.70 for GPT-4.1 mini (2.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Qwen3 8B scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3 8B 136.2 (#113 of 148), DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 (#114 of 148) and GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 (#115 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (129.7–138.1 vs 132.4–138.0), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek V3 0324 67.6%, GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%, Qwen3 8B 56.8%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3 8B 56.1%, GPT-4.1 mini 44.7%, DeepSeek V3 0324 37.8%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 8B, DeepSeek V3 0324 and GPT-4.1 mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen3 8B 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?

GPT-4.1 mini has the largest context window at 1,047,576 tokens, against 163,840 for DeepSeek V3 0324 and 131,072 for Qwen3 8B. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 8B up to 8,192, DeepSeek V3 0324 up to 163,840, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 8B accepts text; DeepSeek V3 0324 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 8B and DeepSeek V3 0324 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 mini is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3 8B is the newest, released Apr 28, 2025. GPT-4.1 mini came out Apr 14, 2025; DeepSeek V3 0324 came out Mar 24, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 8B 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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