QwQ Plus vs GLM-4.5V vs GPT-4.1 mini
GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 62 to 49 and 38 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)QwQ Plus
38/100- ECI—
- Price$0.80 / $2.40
- Context131K
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-4.5V
49/100- ECI—
- Price$0.60 / $1.80
- Context64K
- Our pick
OpenAIGPT-4.1 mini
62/100- ECI135.0
- Price$0.40 / $1.60
- Context1.05M
GPT-4.1 mini is our pick
GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against GLM-4.5V (49) and QwQ Plus (38). It leads on price and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · GLM-4.5V $0.90 · QwQ Plus $1.20 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · QwQ Plus 131,072 · GLM-4.5V 64,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGLM-4.5V and GPT-4.1 miniQwQ Plus: Text · GLM-4.5V: Text, Images, Video · GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs
- Self-hostingGLM-4.5VPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | QwQ Plus | GLM-4.5V | GPT-4.1 mini |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 46 | 52 | 57 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 70 | 70 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 12 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 38/100 | 49/100 | 62/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | QwQ PlusAlibaba (Qwen) | GLM-4.5VZ.ai (Zhipu) | GPT-4.1 miniOpenAI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | 135.0 |
| ECI rank | — | — | #115 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 65.4% | — | 65.9% (best) |
| 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 | $0.80 | $0.60 | $0.40 (best) |
| Output | $2.40 | $1.80 | $1.60 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | $0.10 |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.20 | $0.90 | $0.70 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Z.AI API | Official OpenAI API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 64,000 tokens | 1,047,576 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 16,384 tokens | 32,768 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwq-plus | glm-4.5v | gpt-4.1-mini |
| API providers | 2 | 11 | 24 (best) |
| Released | Mar 5, 2025 | Aug 11, 2025 | Apr 14, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | Apr 2025 | Apr 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- QwQ Plus$12.80
- GLM-4.5V$9.60
- GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
Which should you choose?
Which is better: QwQ Plus, GLM-4.5V or GPT-4.1 mini?
GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against GLM-4.5V (49) and QwQ Plus (38). It leads on price and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, QwQ Plus, GLM-4.5V 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). GLM-4.5V costs $0.60 input / $1.80 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price); QwQ Plus costs $0.80 input / $2.40 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 $0.90 for GLM-4.5V (1.3× as much) and $1.20 for QwQ Plus (1.7× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. QwQ Plus has not been scored yet, GLM-4.5V has not been scored yet and GPT-4.1 mini has an ECI of 135.0.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for QwQ Plus, GLM-4.5V and GPT-4.1 mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. 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 131,072 for QwQ Plus and 64,000 for GLM-4.5V. Maximum output per response: QwQ Plus up to 8,192, GLM-4.5V up to 16,384, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
QwQ Plus accepts text; GLM-4.5V accepts text, images and video; GPT-4.1 mini accepts text, images and PDFs. GLM-4.5V handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
GLM-4.5V publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; QwQ Plus and GPT-4.1 mini is proprietary.
Which is newer?
GLM-4.5V is the newest, released Aug 11, 2025. GPT-4.1 mini came out Apr 14, 2025; QwQ Plus came out Mar 5, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: QwQ Plus Apr 2024, GLM-4.5V 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.
