AI model comparison

Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini

Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.

The Qwen3.5 series 397B-A17B native vision-language model is built on a hybrid architecture that integrates a linear attention mechanism with a sparse mixture-of-experts model, achieving higher inference efficiency.

Input / 1M
$0.55
Output / 1M
$3.50
Context
262K

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is a smaller and faster version of GPT-5.1-Codex

Input / 1M
$0.25
Output / 1M
$2
Context
400K

At a glance

Quick verdict

How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.

Lower price

openai logo

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini

1.9x cheaper for a typical chat

Higher intelligence score

qwen logo

Qwen3.5 397B A17B

21.4 vs 20.4 on Artificial Analysis

Larger context window

openai logo

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini

400K vs 262K tokens

Newer release

qwen logo

Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Released February 16, 2026

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores

Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.

Intelligence index

qwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17B21.4
openai logoGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini20.4

Coding index

qwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17BNot available
openai logoGPT-5.1-Codex-MiniNot available

Agentic index

qwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17BNot available
openai logoGPT-5.1-Codex-MiniNot available

Pricing

Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini API pricing

Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.

Metricqwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17Bopenai logoGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini
Input tokensPer 1M tokens$0.55$0.25
Output tokensPer 1M tokens$3.50$2
Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens$0.22$0.03
Cache writePer 1M tokensNot availableNot available
Web searchPer requestNot available$0.01

What it costs in practice

Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.

Chat message

2K in, 500 out

qwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17B$2.85
openai logoGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini$1.50

Coding task

30K in, 4K out

qwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17B$30.50$20.75 cached
openai logoGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini$15.50$8.90 cached

Long document summary

150K in, 2K out

qwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17B$89.50$40.75 cached
openai logoGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini$41.50$8.50 cached

Specs

Context window and capabilities

How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.

Metricqwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17Bopenai logoGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini
Context window262K tokens400K tokens
Max output236K tokens128K tokens
Input typesImage, Text, VideoImage, Text
Output typesTextText
Reasoning effort levelsNot availableHigh, Medium, Low
Default reasoning effortNot availableMedium
Release dateFebruary 16, 2026November 13, 2025

Features

Supported features

API features available for each model.

Metricqwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17Bopenai logoGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini
Tool callingSupportedSupported
Structured outputsSupportedSupported
JSON modeSupportedSupported
ReasoningSupportedSupported
TemperatureSupportedNot supported
Stop sequencesSupportedNot supported
Deterministic seedSupportedSupported
Verbosity controlNot supportedSupported

Our take

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is 1.9x cheaper for a typical chat. Qwen3.5 397B A17B scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (21.4 vs 20.4). GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini has the larger context window (400K vs 262K tokens). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is Qwen3.5 397B A17B or GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini cheaper?

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini costs $0.25 per 1M input tokens and $2 per 1M output tokens, while Qwen3.5 397B A17B costs $0.55 per 1M input tokens and $3.50 per 1M output tokens.

Which has a bigger context window, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini?

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini supports up to 400K tokens of context, compared with 262K for Qwen3.5 397B A17B.

Is Qwen3.5 397B A17B smarter than GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini?

On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Qwen3.5 397B A17B scores 21.4 and GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini scores 20.4, putting Qwen3.5 397B A17B ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.

Can I use Qwen3.5 397B A17B and GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini at the same time?

Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Qwen3.5 397B A17B and GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini answer side by side and keep the better response.

qwen logoopenai logo

Why choose? Ask both.

Send one prompt to Qwen3.5 397B A17B and GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.