ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3 Max vs GPT-4.1 mini

GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 60 to 50 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 Max

    Released Sep 23, 2025

    50/100
    • ECI142.4
    • Price$1.20 / $6.00
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 Max
  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 Max (50). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. Qwen3 Max wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityQwen3 MaxCapabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3 Max 142.4 · GPT-4.1 mini 135.0
  • Lowest priceGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · Qwen3 Max $2.40 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · Qwen3 Max 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniQwen3 Max: Text · GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 MaxGPT-4.1 mini
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6859
Price25%3257
Inputs & features15%2570
Context window10%3761
Overall100%50/10060/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Qwen3 Max vs GPT-4.1 mini specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 MaxAlibaba (Qwen)GPT-4.1 miniOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)142.4 (best)135.0
ECI rank#91 of 148 (best)#115 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions72.6% (best)65.9%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics19.0% (best)6.7%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics73.3% (best)44.7%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions48.8% (best)12.7%
Price per million tokens
Input$1.20$0.40 (best)
Output$6.00$1.60 (best)
Cached input—$0.10
Blended (3:1)$2.40$0.70 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens1,047,576 tokens (best)
Max output65,536 tokens (best)32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDqwen3-maxgpt-4.1-mini
API providers1624 (best)
ReleasedSep 23, 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 Max$24.00
  • GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 Max or GPT-4.1 mini?

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

Which is cheaper, Qwen3 Max 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 Max costs $1.20 input / $6.00 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 $2.40 for Qwen3 Max (3.4× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Qwen3 Max scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3 Max 142.4 (#91 of 148) and GPT-4.1 mini 135.0 (#115 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (140.0–144.6 vs 131.2–136.6), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen3 Max 72.6%, GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — Qwen3 Max 19.0%, GPT-4.1 mini 6.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3 Max 73.3%, GPT-4.1 mini 44.7%; SimpleQA Verified — Qwen3 Max 48.8%, GPT-4.1 mini 12.7%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 Max and GPT-4.1 mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen3 Max 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 262,144 for Qwen3 Max. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 Max up to 65,536, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 Max 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?

No. Qwen3 Max and GPT-4.1 mini are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen3 Max is the newest, released Sep 23, 2025. GPT-4.1 mini came out Apr 14, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 Max 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

Related comparisons