GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Qwen3 30B A3B
Qwen3 30B A3B leads the LLM Stats Score 17.3 to -9.4. Qwen3 30B A3B is 5.0x cheaper per token.
OpenAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Qwen3 30B A3B leads the overall LLM Stats Score 17.3 to -9.4, ranking #216 overall.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3 30B A3B wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3 30B A3B is roughly 5.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3 30B A3B also accepts a larger context window (128,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose GPT-3.5 Turbo
- you want predictable pricing at $0.50/M input and $1.50/M output
Choose Qwen3 30B A3B
- overall performance matters — it scores 17.3 and ranks #216 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 5.0x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 128,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
8 reported for GPT-3.5 Turbo · 8 for Qwen3 30B A3B
GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 30B A3B is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).
Qwen3 30B A3B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($0.50/1M tokens) is 5.0x more expensive than Qwen3 30B A3B ($0.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($1.50/1M tokens) is 5.0x more expensive than Qwen3 30B A3B ($0.30/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GPT-3.5 Turbo is more expensive than Qwen3 30B A3B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3 30B A3B accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo's 16,385 tokens. Qwen3 30B A3B can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while GPT-3.5 Turbo is limited to 4,096 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
GPT-3.5 Turbo is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 30B A3B uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21, while Qwen3 30B A3B was released on 2025-04-29.
Qwen3 30B A3B is 26 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.
Mar 21, 2023
3.5 years ago
Apr 29, 2025
1.4 years ago
2.1yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-3.5 Turbo has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while Qwen3 30B A3B'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 Qwen3 30B A3B's cutoff date.
Sep 2021
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Provider Availability
GPT-3.5 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI. Qwen3 30B A3B is available from DeepInfra, Novita, Fireworks.
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Qwen3 30B A3B
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GPT-3.5 Turbo and Qwen3 30B A3B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Qwen3 30B A3B.