QwQ Plus vs GPT-4.1 mini
GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 64 to 52 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)QwQ Plus
52/100- ECI—
- Price$0.80 / $2.40
- Context131K
- Our pick
OpenAIGPT-4.1 mini
64/100- ECI135.0
- Price$0.40 / $1.60
- Context1.05M
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
GPT-4.1 mini is our pick
GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against QwQ Plus (52). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond), because QwQ Plus has no Capabilities Index score yet.
- CapabilityGPT-4.1 miniShared benchmarks: GPT-4.1 mini 65.9% · QwQ Plus 65.4%
- Lowest priceGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · 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 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniQwQ Plus: Text · GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | QwQ Plus | GPT-4.1 mini |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityShared benchmarks | 50% | 65 | 66 |
| Price | 25% | 46 | 57 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 35 | 70 |
| Context window | 10% | 24 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 52/100 | 64/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | QwQ PlusAlibaba (Qwen) | 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 | $0.40 (best) |
| Output | $2.40 | $1.60 (best) |
| Cached input | — | $0.10 |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.20 | $0.70 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official OpenAI API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 1,047,576 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 32,768 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwq-plus | gpt-4.1-mini |
| API providers | 2 | 24 (best) |
| Released | Mar 5, 2025 | Apr 14, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | 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
- GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
Which should you choose?
Which is better: QwQ Plus or GPT-4.1 mini?
GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against QwQ Plus (52). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond), because QwQ Plus has no Capabilities Index score yet.
Which is cheaper, QwQ Plus 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). 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 $1.20 for QwQ Plus (1.7× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Not every model here has a Capabilities Index score, so we compare the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond): GPT-4.1 mini 65.9% and QwQ Plus 65.4%. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%, QwQ Plus 65.4%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for QwQ Plus and GPT-4.1 mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-4.1 mini 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 131,072 for QwQ Plus. Maximum output per response: QwQ Plus up to 8,192, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
QwQ Plus 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. QwQ Plus and GPT-4.1 mini are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
GPT-4.1 mini is the newest, released Apr 14, 2025. QwQ Plus came out Mar 5, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: QwQ Plus Apr 2024, 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.
Related comparisons
- Add Llama 4 Maverick 17B InstructThree-way comparison
- QwQ Plus vs Llama 4 Maverick 17B InstructMeta · ECI 132.2
- QwQ Plus vs DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-32BDeepSeek · ECI 137.4
- QwQ Plus vs Mistral Medium 3Mistral AI · ECI 134.1
- GPT-4.1 mini vs Mistral Medium 3Mistral AI · ECI 134.1
- GPT-4.1 mini vs QwQ 32BAlibaba (Qwen) · ECI 137.6
- GPT-4.1 mini vs DeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek · ECI 135.9
