API cost decision in 10 seconds

GPT-5.3-Codex vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Pick Qwen3.5 397B A17B for lower cost; pick GPT-5.3-Codex only if the larger context window matters more.

Pricing data updated:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Qwen3.5 397B A17B for lower cost; pick GPT-5.3-Codex only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.5 397B A17B is estimated at $1.56 vs $8.75 for GPT-5.3-Codex, saving $7.19 (82.2% lower).

Cost-first pickQwen3.5 397B A17B
Context-first pickGPT-5.3-Codex
Sample savings$7.1982.2%
10x traffic gap$71.9

GPT-5.3-Codex has more context, but Qwen3.5 397B A17B saves $7.19 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $71.9. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Qwen3.5 397B A17B stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickGPT-5.3-CodexQwen3.5 397B A17B
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputQwen3.5 397B A17B$15.75$3.12
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputQwen3.5 397B A17B$15.75$2.73
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputQwen3.5 397B A17B$71.75$12.09
Cheaper input Qwen3.5 397B A17B $1.75 vs $0.39 / 1M

Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $1.36 cheaper per 1M input tokens (77.7% lower; 4.49x difference).

Cheaper output Qwen3.5 397B A17B $14 vs $2.34 / 1M

Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $11.66 cheaper per 1M output tokens (83.3% lower; 5.98x difference).

Larger context GPT-5.3-Codex 400K vs 262.14K

GPT-5.3-Codex has 137.86K more context (1.53x larger).

Sample workload Qwen3.5 397B A17B $8.75 vs $1.56

Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $7.19 cheaper on the standard workload (82.2% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
GPT-5.3-Codex Calculating… Estimated API cost
Qwen3.5 397B A17B Calculating… Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Qwen3.5 397B A17B has the lower input price; Qwen3.5 397B A17B has the lower output price; GPT-5.3-Codex offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Qwen3.5 397B A17B is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $8.75 for GPT-5.3-Codex and $1.56 for Qwen3.5 397B A17B.

Best Fit

Choose GPT-5.3-Codex when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Qwen3.5 397B A17B when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.5 397B A17B is estimated at $1.56 vs $8.75 for GPT-5.3-Codex, saving $7.19 (82.2% lower).
  • Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $7.19 cheaper on the standard workload (82.2% lower).
  • Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $1.36 cheaper per 1M input tokens (77.7% lower; 4.49x difference).
  • Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $11.66 cheaper per 1M output tokens (83.3% lower; 5.98x difference).
  • GPT-5.3-Codex has 137.86K more context (1.53x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureGPT-5.3-Codex
(OpenAI)		Qwen3.5 397B A17B
(Qwen)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$1.75$0.39
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$14$2.34
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$8.75$1.56
Context Window400K262.14K
Release Date

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionQwen3.5 397B A17BOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.5 397B A17B is estimated at $1.56 vs $8.75 for GPT-5.3-Codex, saving $7.19 (82.2% lower).
High-volume input processingQwen3.5 397B A17BLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsQwen3.5 397B A17BLower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workGPT-5.3-CodexA larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT-5.3-Codex when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-5.3-Codex when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-5.3-Codex when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
  • gpt-oss-120b can replace GPT-5.3-Codex when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.13.
Larger context near this budget
  • Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
  • GPT-5.4 offers 1.05M context with $10 sample workload cost.
Popular competitors
  • No popular competitor is currently available.

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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OpenAI catalog

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Qwen catalog

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GPT-5.3-Codex

GPT-5.3-Codex is OpenAI’s most advanced agentic coding model, combining the frontier software engineering performance of GPT-5.2-Codex with the broader reasoning and professional knowledge capabilities of GPT-5.2. It achieves state-of-the-art results...

Qwen3.5 397B A17B

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