Compare / Qwen3-Max vs GPT-5 mini
Qwen3-Max vs GPT-5 mini
Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 15 results on 4 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 9 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-09-dd620e778ac5). See also Alibaba vs OpenAI, every model from both labs.
Qwen3-Max or GPT-5 mini? The short answer
Pick GPT-5 mini: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 20.6 against 15.6) and costs less.
- GPT-5 mini is cheaper: $0.69 against $1.56 per million tokens, 2.3 times less.
- GPT-5 mini scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 20.6 against 15.6.
- Qwen3-Max is newer: released 24 Sep 2025, against 7 Aug 2025 for GPT-5 mini.
- On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Qwen3-Max does better for agents and tool use, writing and sticking to the facts; GPT-5 mini for reasoning and knowledge.
Head to head
Every fact side by side
| Qwen3-Max | GPT-5 mini | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $0.78 in · $3.90 out | $0.25 in · $2.00 out |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $1.56 | $0.69 |
| Cheapest host, blended | – | $0.69 (Azure) |
| Intelligence Index | 15.6 | 20.6 |
| Spring Prompt overall | – | – |
| Output speed, tokens a second | – | – |
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 400,000 tokens |
| Released | 24 Sep 2025 (newer) | 7 Aug 2025 |
| 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-Max | GPT-5 mini |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 108 · 152 of 387 measured | 1,423 | 1,390high reasoning |
| Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 110 · 157 of 380 measured | 1,419 | 1,381high reasoning |
| Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 105 · 181 of 385 measured | 1,393 | 1,324high reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 123 · 103 of 243 measured | 15.6 | 20.6medium reasoning |
| GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 132 · 97 of 231 measured | 76.4% | 82.8%high reasoning |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 140 · 104 of 242 measured | 11.9% | 21.5%high reasoning |
| SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) reported by SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · 1 result | ||
| Correct answers% of questions, higher is better 27 · 63 of 76 measured | 48.7% | 21.6%high reasoning |
| Vending-Bench 2 reported by Vending-Bench 2 · 1 result | ||
| Money after a yearUS dollars, higher is better 52 · 58 of 58 measured | $71.57 | $-31.18 |
Show all 15 results (7 more)
| Measure | Qwen3-Max | GPT-5 mini |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 137 · 153 of 338 measured | 1,417 | 1,401high reasoning |
| Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 106 · 158 of 387 measured | 1,413 | 1,373high reasoning |
| Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 101 · 168 of 386 measured | 1,405 | 1,352high reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 4 results | ||
| IFBench% of instructions, higher is better 118 · 26 of 195 measured | 44.2% | 75.4%high reasoning |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 154 · 96 of 233 measured | 50.0% | 72.3%high reasoning |
| Terminal-Bench Hard% of tasks, higher is better 91 · 57 of 190 measured | 20.5% | 33.3%high reasoning |
| τ²-bench telecom% of tasks, higher is better 79 · 82 of 193 measured | 74.3% | 71.1%medium reasoning |
Compare them with other models
Quick answers
Is Qwen3-Max better than GPT-5 mini?
Pick GPT-5 mini: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 20.6 against 15.6) and costs less.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3-Max or GPT-5 mini?
GPT-5 mini is cheaper: $0.69 against $1.56 per million tokens, 2.3 times less.
Which is better for agents and tool use, Qwen3-Max or GPT-5 mini?
GPT-5 mini ranks 109 of 164 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 154 for Qwen3-Max.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Qwen3-Max or GPT-5 mini?
GPT-5 mini ranks 95 of 198 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 121 for Qwen3-Max.
Which is better for writing, Qwen3-Max or GPT-5 mini?
Qwen3-Max ranks 99 of 188 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 119 for GPT-5 mini.
Which is better for sticking to the facts, Qwen3-Max or GPT-5 mini?
Qwen3-Max ranks 50 of 152 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 131 for GPT-5 mini.
Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3-Max or GPT-5 mini?
GPT-5 mini: 400,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3-Max.
Run Qwen3-Max and GPT-5 mini on your own prompt
Benchmarks aren't your data. Try both side by side in the playground, with the cost of every answer.