Compare / Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs GPT-5 nano

Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs GPT-5 nano

Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 14 results on 3 sources that measured both models.

AlibabaQwen3.6-Max-Preview Released 20 Apr 2026 · $1.03 in · $6.16 out
OpenAIGPT-5 nano Released 7 Aug 2025 · $0.050 in · $0.40 out
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview wins 14GPT-5 nano wins 0

Of the 14 results both models have, the better value on each. Results whose reported ranges overlap are too close to call.

Results as of 13 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-13-2e2420e3c5cc). See also Alibaba vs OpenAI, every model from both labs.

Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5 nano? The short answer

Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 28.4 against 13.0). Pick GPT-5 nano if cost matters more: it costs 17 times less per token.

  • GPT-5 nano is cheaper: $0.14 against $2.31 per million tokens, 17 times less.
  • Qwen3.6-Max-Preview scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 28.4 against 13.0.
  • Qwen3.6-Max-Preview is newer: released 20 Apr 2026, against 7 Aug 2025 for GPT-5 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

28.4
Intelligence Index
13.0
$2.31
Price per million tokens, blendedlower is better
$0.14
262,144
Context window, tokens
400,000

Every fact side by side

Qwen3.6-Max-PreviewGPT-5 nano
Price per million tokens$1.03 in · $6.16 out$0.050 in · $0.40 out
Blended (3 in : 1 out)$2.31$0.14
Cheapest host, blended–$0.14 (Azure)
Intelligence Index28.413.0
Spring Prompt overall––
Output speed, tokens a second––
Context window262,144 tokens400,000 tokens
Released20 Apr 2026 (newer)7 Aug 2025
WeightsClosedClosed
Developer based inChinathe 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.

Agents and tool useMulti-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls 81 of 164 53 of 164
Reasoning and knowledgeHard questions across science, maths and general knowledge 59 of 198 134 of 198
WritingWhat people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality 41 of 188 151 of 188
Sticking to the factsSummarising without inventing things, and factual answers 45 of 152 125 of 152

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.

MeasureQwen3.6-Max-PreviewGPT-5 nano
Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results
Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 51 · 207 of 387 measured 1,460 1,338high reasoning
Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 64 · 204 of 380 measured 1,451 1,339high reasoning
Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 50 · 268 of 385 measured 1,437 1,247high reasoning
Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 57 · 144 of 243 measured 28.4 13.0high reasoning
GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 55 · 162 of 231 measured 88.8% 67.6%high reasoning
Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 70 · 160 of 242 measured 30.8% 9.5%high 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 14 results (7 more)
MeasureQwen3.6-Max-PreviewGPT-5 nano
Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results
Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 36 · 191 of 338 measured 1,500 1,354high reasoning
Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 56 · 200 of 387 measured 1,450 1,327high reasoning
Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 50 · 247 of 386 measured 1,446 1,289high reasoning
Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 4 results
IFBench% of instructions, higher is better 14 · 64 of 195 measured 76.6% 67.6%high reasoning
Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 33 · 162 of 233 measured 80.7% 45.0%high reasoning
Terminal-Bench Hard% of tasks, higher is better 23 · 100 of 190 measured 43.9% 17.4%medium reasoning
τ²-bench telecom% of tasks, higher is better 12 · 119 of 193 measured 95.9% 36.6%high reasoning

Quick answers

Is Qwen3.6-Max-Preview better than GPT-5 nano?

Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 28.4 against 13.0). Pick GPT-5 nano if cost matters more: it costs 17 times less per token.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5 nano?

GPT-5 nano is cheaper: $0.14 against $2.31 per million tokens, 17 times less.

Which is better for agents and tool use, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5 nano?

GPT-5 nano ranks 53 of 164 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 81 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.

Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5 nano?

Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 59 of 198 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 134 for GPT-5 nano.

Which is better for writing, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5 nano?

Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 41 of 188 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 151 for GPT-5 nano.

Which is better for sticking to the facts, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5 nano?

Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 45 of 152 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 125 for GPT-5 nano.

Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or GPT-5 nano?

GPT-5 nano: 400,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.

Run Qwen3.6-Max-Preview and GPT-5 nano on your own prompt

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