GPT-5.5 vs Qwen3-Max
GPT-5.5 and Qwen3-Max are both current production-tier models. Qwen3-Max is meaningfully cheaper at $0.78 / $3.9 per 1M. GPT-5.5 has a 1.1M context window — about 4× the 262k of Qwen3-Max. GPT-5.5 leads on coding, reasoning, general knowledge.
Specs side by side
| Metric | OpenAI GPT-5.5 | Alibaba Qwen3-Max |
|---|---|---|
| Input price (per 1M) | $5 | $0.78 |
| Output price (per 1M) | $30 | $3.9 |
| Context window | 1.1M tokens | 262k tokens |
| Speed tier | balanced | balanced |
| Open weights | No | Yes |
| EU region | Yes | No |
| Free tier | No | OpenRouter |
| Prompt caching | Yes | No |
| Vision input | Yes | No |
| Extended thinking | Yes | Yes |
When to choose each
Choose GPT-5.5 if…
- You need 1.1M context (4× more than Qwen3-Max)
- EU data residency is required
- HIPAA eligibility is required
- You need image input / vision
- You need realtime speech-to-speech
- Coding is central to your workload
- Reasoning is central to your workload
Choose Qwen3-Max if…
- Cost is a priority ($0.78 / $3.9 per 1M vs $5 / $30 per 1M)
- You need open weights for self-hosting or fine-tuning
- You want a free tier for prototyping
Benchmark delta
GPT-5.5 leads on
- Coding
- Reasoning
- General knowledge
- Long-context retrieval
- Instruction following
- Tool use
Qwen3-Max leads on
Qwen3-Max has no meaningful benchmark lead in this pair.
FAQ — GPT-5.5 vs Qwen3-Max
GPT-5.5 vs Qwen3-Max — which is better?
GPT-5.5 and Qwen3-Max are both current production-tier models. Qwen3-Max is meaningfully cheaper at $0.78 / $3.9 per 1M. GPT-5.5 has a 1.1M context window — about 4× the 262k of Qwen3-Max. GPT-5.5 leads on coding, reasoning, general knowledge. The right pick depends on your use case — see "When to choose each" above for a data-driven decision.
How does GPT-5.5 pricing compare to Qwen3-Max?
GPT-5.5 costs $5 / $30 per 1M vs Qwen3-Max at $0.78 / $3.9 per 1M. Qwen3-Max is cheaper on output tokens by roughly 669%. Both support prompt caching, which reduces effective cost by 80-90% on repeat system prompts.
Does GPT-5.5 or Qwen3-Max have the bigger context window?
GPT-5.5 has a 1.1M-token context window — 4× the 262k context of Qwen3-Max. Enough for entire codebases, books, or multi-document RAG.
Is there a free tier for GPT-5.5 or Qwen3-Max?
GPT-5.5: no — Paid-only — no free API tier; available via ChatGPT Plus/Pro. Qwen3-Max: yes — Often available free via OpenRouter; official API is cheap and tiered.
Which is better for coding — GPT-5.5 or Qwen3-Max?
GPT-5.5 leads on coding benchmarks (GPT-5.5: 95/100, Qwen3-Max: 86/100). For production coding agents also weigh tool-use performance — GPT-5.5 scores 94, Qwen3-Max scores 85.