GPT-5 nano vs Qwen3-Max
Benchmarks, API pricing and specs, head to head. Data updated 2026-06-10.
GPT-5 nano
OpenAI · Aug 2025
OpenAI's cheapest model — $0.05 per million input tokens — for latency-critical routing, autocomplete and bulk tagging.
Qwen3-Max
80.5Alibaba (Qwen) · Sep 2025
Alibaba's trillion-parameter API flagship — frontier-adjacent quality with strong agentic tool use at mid-tier prices.
The verdict
These two models don't yet share verified results on the benchmarks we track, so judge them on specs, pricing and intended use. On price the gap is dramatic: GPT-5 nano works out roughly 17x cheaper per blended million tokens. GPT-5 nano also takes 400K of context versus 262K for Qwen3-Max.
Specs & pricing
| GPT-5 nano | Qwen3-Max | |
|---|---|---|
| modhub Index | — | 80.5 |
| Input price / 1M | $0.05 | $1.2 |
| Output price / 1M | $0.4 | $6 |
| Context window | 400K | 262K |
| Max output | 128K | 66K |
| Open weights | no | no |
| Reasoning model | yes | yes |
| Multimodal input | text, image | text |
| Knowledge cutoff | May 2024 | Jun 2025 |
| Released | Aug 2025 | Sep 2025 |
| Example monthly cost* | $1.10 | $21.00 |
* 10M input + 1.5M output tokens per month at list prices, no caching. Green = better value on that row.
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better, GPT-5 nano or Qwen3-Max?
- These two models don't yet share verified results on the benchmarks we track, so judge them on specs, pricing and intended use. On price the gap is dramatic: GPT-5 nano works out roughly 17x cheaper per blended million tokens. GPT-5 nano also takes 400K of context versus 262K for Qwen3-Max.
- Which is cheaper, GPT-5 nano or Qwen3-Max?
- GPT-5 nano costs $0.05/$0.4 per million input/output tokens, while Qwen3-Max costs $1.2/$6. For a typical workload of 10M input and 1.5M output tokens per month, that's $1.10 versus $21.00.
- Which model is better for coding, GPT-5 nano or Qwen3-Max?
- We don't yet track SWE-bench Verified results for both models; check their individual pages for coding-related scores.