Model Comparison

GPT-5.1 Codex vs Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

GPT-5.1 Codex significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: GPT-5.1 Codex vs Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct — which is better?

GPT-5.1 Codex (by OpenAI) and Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B 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-5.1 Codex outperforms in 2 benchmarks (SWE-Bench Verified, Terminal-Bench 2.0), while Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks. GPT-5.1 Codex significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose GPT-5.1 Codex if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2025

Choose Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct if…

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

GPT-5.1 Codex outperforms in 2 benchmarks (SWE-Bench Verified, Terminal-Bench 2.0), while Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.

GPT-5.1 Codex significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Thu Jun 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only GPT-5.1 Codex specifies input context (400,000 tokens). Only GPT-5.1 Codex specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

OpenAI
GPT-5.1 Codex
Input400,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Thu Jun 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

GPT-5.1 Codex supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct does not.

GPT-5.1 Codex can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

GPT-5.1 Codex

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

GPT-5.1 Codex is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct uses Apache 2.0.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

GPT-5.1 Codex

Proprietary

Closed source

Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

GPT-5.1 Codex was released on 2025-11-19, while Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct was released on 2025-01-31.

GPT-5.1 Codex is 10 months newer than Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct.

GPT-5.1 Codex

Nov 19, 2025

7 months ago

9mo newer
Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct

Jan 31, 2025

1.4 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-5.1 Codex has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-09-30, while Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm GPT-5.1 Codex's training data extends to 2024-09-30, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct's cutoff date.

GPT-5.1 Codex

Sep 2024

Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct

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Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

OpenAI
Larger context window (400,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher SWE-Bench Verified score (73.7% vs 69.6%)
Higher Terminal-Bench 2.0 score (52.8% vs 37.5%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Has open weights

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
OpenAI
GPT-5.1 Codex
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about GPT-5.1 Codex vs Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct.

Which is better, GPT-5.1 Codex or Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct?

GPT-5.1 Codex significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GPT-5.1 Codex is made by OpenAI and Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does GPT-5.1 Codex compare to Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct in benchmarks?

GPT-5.1 Codex scores SWE-Bench Verified: 73.7%, SWE-Lancer: 66.3%, Terminal-Bench 2.0: 52.8%. Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct scores TAU-bench Retail: 77.5%, SWE-Bench Verified: 69.6%, BFCL-v3: 68.7%, Aider-Polyglot: 61.8%, TAU-bench Airline: 60.0%.

What are the context window sizes for GPT-5.1 Codex and Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct?

GPT-5.1 Codex supports 400K tokens and Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between GPT-5.1 Codex and Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct?

Key differences include multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes GPT-5.1 Codex and Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct?

GPT-5.1 Codex is developed by OpenAI and Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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