Compare / Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs GPT-5.4 nano
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs GPT-5.4 nano
Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 15 results on 3 sources that measured both models.
Of the 15 results both models have, the better value on each. Results whose reported ranges overlap are too close to call.
Results as of 14 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-14-7d7cf32c3f6d). See also Alibaba vs OpenAI, every model from both labs.
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5.4 nano? The short answer
Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 28.4 against 20.7). Pick GPT-5.4 nano if cost matters more: it costs 5.0 times less per token.
- GPT-5.4 nano is cheaper: $0.46 against $2.31 per million tokens, 5.0 times less.
- Qwen3.6-Max-Preview scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 28.4 against 20.7.
- Qwen3.6-Max-Preview is newer: released 20 Apr 2026, against 17 Mar 2026 for GPT-5.4 nano.
- On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Qwen3.6-Max-Preview does better for reasoning and knowledge, writing and sticking to the facts.
Head to head
Every fact side by side
| Qwen3.6-Max-Preview | GPT-5.4 nano | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $1.03 in · $6.16 out | $0.20 in · $1.25 out |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $2.31 | $0.46 |
| Cheapest host, blended | – | $0.46 (Azure) |
| Cached input, per million | – | $0.020 cached input |
| Intelligence Index | 28.4 | 20.7 |
| Spring Prompt overall | – | – |
| Output speed, tokens a second | – | – |
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 400,000 tokens |
| Released | 20 Apr 2026 (newer) | 17 Mar 2026 |
| Weights | Closed | Closed |
| Developer based in | China | the US |
Prices are the developer's list price where we have read it, otherwise the typical host on OpenRouter; see every model's price. Intelligence and speed from Artificial Analysis.
Which is better for what
Each model's rank among the models on sale today, for each kind of work, from our own benchmarks and licensed sources. Further right is better; the better rank is in green.
Every shared result
Each model's best result on every measure both have, grouped by benchmark, with the setting that produced it. Under each measure, every model that benchmark has measured is a grey tick, best to the right, so you can see where the two sit in the field. The headline measures of each benchmark come first; the rest are under "Show all". Green marks the better value; where a source reports ranges that overlap, neither is marked.
| Measure | Qwen3.6-Max-Preview | GPT-5.4 nano |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 51 · 137 of 387 measured | 1,460 | 1,401high reasoning |
| Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better 51 · 117 of 163 measured | 1,453 | 1,418high reasoning |
| Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 64 · 132 of 380 measured | 1,451 | 1,405high reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 58 · 102 of 244 measured | 28.4 | 20.7xhigh reasoning |
| GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 55 · 102 of 231 measured | 88.8% | 81.7%xhigh reasoning |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 71 · 82 of 243 measured | 30.8% | 28.3%xhigh reasoning |
| SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) reported by SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · 1 result | ||
| Correct answers% of questions, higher is better 21 · 72 of 76 measured | 52.0% | 11.7%high reasoning |
Show all 15 results (8 more)
| Measure | Qwen3.6-Max-Preview | GPT-5.4 nano |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 4 results | ||
| Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 50 · 170 of 385 measured | 1,437 | 1,336high reasoning |
| Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 36 · 117 of 338 measured | 1,500 | 1,437high reasoning |
| Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 56 · 139 of 387 measured | 1,450 | 1,387high reasoning |
| Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 50 · 156 of 386 measured | 1,446 | 1,363high reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 4 results | ||
| IFBench% of instructions, higher is better 14 · 19 of 195 measured | 76.6% | 75.9%xhigh reasoning |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 33 · 72 of 234 measured | 80.7% | 76.7%xhigh reasoning |
| Terminal-Bench Hard% of tasks, higher is better 23 · 29 of 190 measured | 43.9% | 42.4%xhigh reasoning |
| τ²-bench telecom% of tasks, higher is better 12 · 75 of 193 measured | 95.9% | 76.0%xhigh reasoning |
Compare them with other models
Quick answers
Is Qwen3.6-Max-Preview better than GPT-5.4 nano?
Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 28.4 against 20.7). Pick GPT-5.4 nano if cost matters more: it costs 5.0 times less per token.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5.4 nano?
GPT-5.4 nano is cheaper: $0.46 against $2.31 per million tokens, 5.0 times less.
Which is better for agents and tool use, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5.4 nano?
GPT-5.4 nano ranks 66 of 166 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 83 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5.4 nano?
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 61 of 200 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 91 for GPT-5.4 nano.
Which is better for writing, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5.4 nano?
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 42 of 189 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 111 for GPT-5.4 nano.
Which is better for sticking to the facts, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5.4 nano?
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 46 of 153 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 90 for GPT-5.4 nano.
Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5.4 nano?
GPT-5.4 nano: 400,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.
Run Qwen3.6-Max-Preview and GPT-5.4 nano on your own prompt
Benchmarks aren't your data. Try both side by side in the playground, with the cost of every answer.