GPT-4o vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
GPT-4o and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct are closely matched at 14.6 and 12.9 on the LLM Stats Score. Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is 12.1x cheaper per token.
OpenAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
GPT-4o and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 14.6 and 12.9.
In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, GPT-4o wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is roughly 12.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (131,072 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-4o
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 3 exact shared results
Choose Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
- your work emphasizes coding — it leads those capability indexes
- cost matters — it's about 12.1x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 131,072 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2024
- 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
38 reported for GPT-4o · 14 for Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
GPT-4o outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (IFEval).
GPT-4o shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, GPT-4o ($2.50/1M tokens) is 7.1x more expensive than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct ($0.35/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-4o ($10.00/1M tokens) is 25.0x more expensive than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct ($0.40/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GPT-4o is more expensive than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct accepts 131,072 input tokens compared to GPT-4o's 128,000 tokens. GPT-4o can generate longer responses up to 16,384 tokens, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is limited to 8,192 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
GPT-4o supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen2.5 72B Instruct does not.
GPT-4o can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
GPT-4o
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
GPT-4o is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct uses Qwen.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Qwen
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
GPT-4o was released on 2024-08-06, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct was released on 2024-09-19.
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is 1 month newer than GPT-4o.
Aug 6, 2024
2.1 years ago
Sep 19, 2024
1.9 years ago
1mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
GPT-4o is available from Azure, OpenAI. Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Hyperbolic, Fireworks, Together.
GPT-4o
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GPT-4o and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about GPT-4o vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct.