Model Comparison

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B vs GPT-5.6 LunaWhich is better in 2026?

GPT-5.6 Luna significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Qwen3.6-35B-A3B vs GPT-5.6 Luna — which is better?

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) and GPT-5.6 Luna (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.

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while GPT-5.6 Luna is better at 5 benchmarks (GDPval-AA, GPQA, MMMU-Pro, SWE-Bench Pro, Toolathlon). GPT-5.6 Luna significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Qwen3.6-35B-A3B if…

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

Choose GPT-5.6 Luna if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 5 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while GPT-5.6 Luna is better at 5 benchmarks (GDPval-AA, GPQA, MMMU-Pro, SWE-Bench Pro, Toolathlon).

GPT-5.6 Luna significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only GPT-5.6 Luna specifies input context (1,050,000 tokens). Only GPT-5.6 Luna specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Luna
Input1,050,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Qwen3.6-35B-A3B and GPT-5.6 Luna support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

GPT-5.6 Luna

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is licensed under Apache 2.0, while GPT-5.6 Luna uses a proprietary license.

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

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

GPT-5.6 Luna

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B was released on 2026-04-16, while GPT-5.6 Luna was released on 2026-07-09.

GPT-5.6 Luna is 3 months newer than Qwen3.6-35B-A3B.

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B

Apr 16, 2026

3 months ago

GPT-5.6 Luna

Jul 9, 2026

1 weeks ago

2mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-5.6 Luna has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-16, while Qwen3.6-35B-A3B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm GPT-5.6 Luna's training data extends to 2026-02-16, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3.6-35B-A3B's cutoff date.

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B

—

GPT-5.6 Luna

Feb 2026

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Has open weights
OpenAI
Larger context window (1,050,000 tokens)
Higher GDPval-AA score (53.1% vs 35.2%)
Higher GPQA score (92.3% vs 86.0%)
Higher MMMU-Pro score (78.4% vs 75.3%)
Higher SWE-Bench Pro score (62.7% vs 49.5%)
Higher Toolathlon score (53.4% vs 26.9%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Qwen3.6-35B-A3B and GPT-5.6 Luna side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
✓ Preferred
GPT-5.6 Luna
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Luna

FAQ

Common questions about Qwen3.6-35B-A3B vs GPT-5.6 Luna.

Which is better, Qwen3.6-35B-A3B or GPT-5.6 Luna?

GPT-5.6 Luna significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team and GPT-5.6 Luna is made by OpenAI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Qwen3.6-35B-A3B compare to GPT-5.6 Luna in benchmarks?

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B scores MMLU-Redux: 93.3%, MMBench-V1.1: 92.8%, AI2D: 92.7%, AIME 2026: 92.7%, RefCOCO-avg: 92.0%. GPT-5.6 Luna scores Connectors: 99.9%, HealthBench Consensus: 95.1%, GPQA: 92.3%, Search and Function-Calling: 89.7%, Capture-the-Flag Challenges (Internal): 85.2%.

What are the context window sizes for Qwen3.6-35B-A3B and GPT-5.6 Luna?

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B supports an unknown number of tokens and GPT-5.6 Luna supports 1.1M tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Qwen3.6-35B-A3B and GPT-5.6 Luna?

Key differences include licensing (Apache 2.0 vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Qwen3.6-35B-A3B and GPT-5.6 Luna?

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team and GPT-5.6 Luna is developed by OpenAI.

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