GPT-5 vs Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
GPT-5 and Qwen3.6-35B-A3B are closely matched at 33.8 and 32.4 on the LLM Stats Score. Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is 11.0x cheaper per token.
OpenAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
GPT-5 and Qwen3.6-35B-A3B are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 33.8 and 32.4.
In the 9 individual benchmarks reported for both models, GPT-5 wins 8; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is roughly 11.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
GPT-5 also accepts a larger context window (400,000 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-5
- your work emphasizes coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 8 of 9 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 400,000 token context window
Choose Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
- cost matters — it's about 11.0x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2026
- 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
34 reported for GPT-5 · 49 for Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
GPT-5 outperforms in 8 benchmarks (CharXiv-R, HMMT 2025, Humanity's Last Exam, MMMU, MMMU-Pro, SWE-Bench Verified, VideoMME w sub., VideoMMMU), while Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).
GPT-5 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-5 ($1.25/1M tokens) is 12.5x more expensive than Qwen3.6-35B-A3B ($0.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-5 ($10.00/1M tokens) is 10.5x more expensive than Qwen3.6-35B-A3B ($0.95/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GPT-5 is more expensive than Qwen3.6-35B-A3B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
GPT-5 accepts 400,000 input tokens compared to Qwen3.6-35B-A3B's 262,144 tokens. Qwen3.6-35B-A3B can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while GPT-5 is limited to 128,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both GPT-5 and Qwen3.6-35B-A3B support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
GPT-5
Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
License
Usage and distribution terms
GPT-5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3.6-35B-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-5 was released on 2025-08-07, while Qwen3.6-35B-A3B was released on 2026-04-16.
Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is 8 months newer than GPT-5.
Aug 7, 2025
1.1 years ago
Apr 16, 2026
5 months ago
8mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-5 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-09-30, while Qwen3.6-35B-A3B's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm GPT-5's training data extends to 2024-09-30, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3.6-35B-A3B's cutoff date.
Sep 2024
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Provider Availability
GPT-5 is available from OpenAI. Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is available from DeepInfra.
GPT-5
Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GPT-5 and Qwen3.6-35B-A3B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about GPT-5 vs Qwen3.6-35B-A3B.