GPT-5.1 Medium vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
GPT-5.1 Medium leads the LLM Stats Score 31.2 to 18.3. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is 8.6x cheaper per token.
OpenAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
GPT-5.1 Medium leads the overall LLM Stats Score 31.2 to 18.3, ranking #104 overall.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, GPT-5.1 Medium wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is roughly 8.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
GPT-5.1 Medium 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-5.1 Medium
- overall performance matters — it scores 31.2 and ranks #104 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
- you process long inputs — it offers a 400,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2025
Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
- cost matters — it's about 8.6x cheaper per token
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
1 reported for GPT-5.1 Medium · 50 for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
GPT-5.1 Medium outperforms in 1 benchmarks (AIME 2025), while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is better at 0 benchmarks.
GPT-5.1 Medium 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 Medium ($1.25/1M tokens) is 6.3x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking ($0.20/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-5.1 Medium ($10.00/1M tokens) is 10.1x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking ($0.99/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GPT-5.1 Medium is more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
GPT-5.1 Medium accepts 400,000 input tokens compared to Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking's 131,072 tokens. GPT-5.1 Medium can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is limited to 32,768 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both GPT-5.1 Medium and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
GPT-5.1 Medium
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
License
Usage and distribution terms
GPT-5.1 Medium is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking 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-5.1 Medium was released on 2025-11-12, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.
GPT-5.1 Medium is 2 months newer than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking.
Nov 12, 2025
9 months ago
1mo newerSep 22, 2025
11 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
GPT-5.1 Medium is available from OpenAI. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is available from Novita, DeepInfra.
GPT-5.1 Medium
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GPT-5.1 Medium and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about GPT-5.1 Medium vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking.