Model Comparison
o3 vs Qwen3 235B A22BWhich is better in 2026?
o3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3 235B A22B is 35.0x cheaper per token.
Verdict: o3 vs Qwen3 235B A22B — which is better?
o3 (by OpenAI) and Qwen3 235B A22B (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.
o3 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, AIME 2025, GPQA), while Qwen3 235B A22B is better at 0 benchmarks. o3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Qwen3 235B A22B is roughly 35.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
o3 also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose o3 if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
- you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
Choose Qwen3 235B A22B if…
- cost matters — it's about 35.0x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
o3 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, AIME 2025, GPQA), while Qwen3 235B A22B is better at 0 benchmarks.
o3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, o3 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 20.0x more expensive than Qwen3 235B A22B ($0.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, o3 ($8.00/1M tokens) is 80.0x more expensive than Qwen3 235B A22B ($0.10/1M tokens).
In conclusion, o3 is more expensive than Qwen3 235B A22B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
o3 accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to Qwen3 235B A22B's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3 235B A22B can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while o3 is limited to 100,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
o3 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3 235B A22B does not.
o3 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
o3
Qwen3 235B A22B
License
Usage and distribution terms
o3 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 235B A22B 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
o3 was released on 2025-04-16, while Qwen3 235B A22B was released on 2025-04-29.
Qwen3 235B A22B is 0 month newer than o3.
Apr 16, 2025
1.1 years ago
Apr 29, 2025
1.1 years ago
1w newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
o3 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-05-31, while Qwen3 235B A22B's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm o3's training data extends to 2024-05-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3 235B A22B's cutoff date.
May 2024
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Provider Availability
o3 is available from OpenAI. Qwen3 235B A22B is available from Fireworks, DeepInfra, Novita, Together.
o3
Qwen3 235B A22B
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
o3
View detailsOpenAI
Qwen3 235B A22B
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
o3
Qwen3 235B A22BDetailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about o3 vs Qwen3 235B A22B.