Model Comparison

Qwen3.5-9B vs GPT OSS 20BWhich is better in 2026?

Qwen3.5-9B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Qwen3.5-9B vs GPT OSS 20B — which is better?

Qwen3.5-9B (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) and GPT OSS 20B (by OpenAI) 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.

Qwen3.5-9B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while GPT OSS 20B is better at 0 benchmarks. Qwen3.5-9B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Qwen3.5-9B if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Mar 2026

Choose GPT OSS 20B if…

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.05/M input and $0.20/M output

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Qwen3.5-9B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while GPT OSS 20B is better at 0 benchmarks.

Qwen3.5-9B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Jun 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

11.9B diff

GPT OSS 20B has 11.9B more parameters than Qwen3.5-9B, making it 132.2% larger.

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.5-9B
9.0Bparameters
OpenAI
GPT OSS 20B
20.9Bparameters
9.0B
Qwen3.5-9B
20.9B
GPT OSS 20B

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only GPT OSS 20B specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only GPT OSS 20B specifies output context (32,768 tokens).

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.5-9B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
OpenAI
GPT OSS 20B
Input131,072 tokens
Output32,768 tokens
Wed Jun 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Qwen3.5-9B supports multimodal inputs, whereas GPT OSS 20B does not.

Qwen3.5-9B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Qwen3.5-9B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

GPT OSS 20B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.

Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.

Qwen3.5-9B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

GPT OSS 20B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Qwen3.5-9B was released on 2026-03-02, while GPT OSS 20B was released on 2025-08-05.

Qwen3.5-9B is 7 months newer than GPT OSS 20B.

Qwen3.5-9B

Mar 2, 2026

3 months ago

6mo newer
GPT OSS 20B

Aug 5, 2025

10 months ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion

Key Takeaways

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen3.5-9B

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (81.7% vs 71.5%)
Larger context window (131,072 tokens)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.5-9B
OpenAI
GPT OSS 20B

FAQ

Common questions about Qwen3.5-9B vs GPT OSS 20B.

Which is better, Qwen3.5-9B or GPT OSS 20B?

Qwen3.5-9B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3.5-9B is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team and GPT OSS 20B is made by OpenAI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Qwen3.5-9B compare to GPT OSS 20B in benchmarks?

Qwen3.5-9B scores IFEval: 91.5%, MMLU-Redux: 91.1%, C-Eval: 88.2%, MAXIFE: 83.4%, Global PIQA: 83.2%. GPT OSS 20B scores MMLU: 85.3%, CodeForces: 74.3%, GPQA: 71.5%, TAU-bench Retail: 54.8%, HealthBench: 42.5%.

What are the context window sizes for Qwen3.5-9B and GPT OSS 20B?

Qwen3.5-9B supports an unknown number of tokens and GPT OSS 20B supports 131K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Qwen3.5-9B and GPT OSS 20B?

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

Who makes Qwen3.5-9B and GPT OSS 20B?

Qwen3.5-9B is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team and GPT OSS 20B is developed by OpenAI.