Model Comparison
GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Qwen2.5 VL 72B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Verdict: GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct — which is better?
GPT-3.5 Turbo (by OpenAI) and Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (MMMU). Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Choose GPT-3.5 Turbo if…
- you want predictable pricing at $0.50/M input and $1.50/M output
Choose Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jan 2025
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (MMMU).
Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only GPT-3.5 Turbo specifies input context (16,385 tokens). Only GPT-3.5 Turbo specifies output context (4,096 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas GPT-3.5 Turbo does not.
Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
GPT-3.5 Turbo is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct uses tongyi-qianwen.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
tongyi-qianwen
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21, while Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct was released on 2025-01-26.
Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct is 23 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.
Mar 21, 2023
3.3 years ago
Jan 26, 2025
1.4 years ago
1.9yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-3.5 Turbo has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm GPT-3.5 Turbo's training data extends to 2021-09-30, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct's cutoff date.
Sep 2021
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Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct.