API cost decision in 10 seconds

GPT-5.4 Pro vs Qwen3 Max Thinking

Pick Qwen3 Max Thinking for lower cost; pick GPT-5.4 Pro 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 Max Thinking for lower cost; pick GPT-5.4 Pro only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 Max Thinking is estimated at $2.73 vs $120 for GPT-5.4 Pro, saving $117.27 (97.7% lower).

Cost-first pickQwen3 Max Thinking
Context-first pickGPT-5.4 Pro
Sample savings$117.2797.7%
10x traffic gap$1172.7

GPT-5.4 Pro has more context, but Qwen3 Max Thinking saves $117.27 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $1172.7. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Qwen3 Max Thinking stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickGPT-5.4 ProQwen3 Max Thinking
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputQwen3 Max Thinking$240$5.85
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputQwen3 Max Thinking$210$4.68
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputQwen3 Max Thinking$930$20.28
Cheaper input Qwen3 Max Thinking $30 vs $0.78 / 1M

Qwen3 Max Thinking is $29.22 cheaper per 1M input tokens (97.4% lower; 38.5x difference).

Cheaper output Qwen3 Max Thinking $180 vs $3.9 / 1M

Qwen3 Max Thinking is $176.1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (97.8% lower; 46.2x difference).

Larger context GPT-5.4 Pro 1.05M vs 262.14K

GPT-5.4 Pro has 787.86K more context (4.01x larger).

Sample workload Qwen3 Max Thinking $120 vs $2.73

Qwen3 Max Thinking is $117.27 cheaper on the standard workload (97.7% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
GPT-5.4 Pro Calculating… Estimated API cost
Qwen3 Max Thinking 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 Max Thinking has the lower input price; Qwen3 Max Thinking has the lower output price; GPT-5.4 Pro offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Qwen3 Max Thinking is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $120 for GPT-5.4 Pro and $2.73 for Qwen3 Max Thinking.

Best Fit

Choose GPT-5.4 Pro when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Qwen3 Max Thinking 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 Max Thinking is estimated at $2.73 vs $120 for GPT-5.4 Pro, saving $117.27 (97.7% lower).
  • Qwen3 Max Thinking is $117.27 cheaper on the standard workload (97.7% lower).
  • Qwen3 Max Thinking is $29.22 cheaper per 1M input tokens (97.4% lower; 38.5x difference).
  • Qwen3 Max Thinking is $176.1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (97.8% lower; 46.2x difference).
  • GPT-5.4 Pro has 787.86K more context (4.01x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureGPT-5.4 Pro
(OpenAI)		Qwen3 Max Thinking
(Qwen)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$30$0.78
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$180$3.9
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$120$2.73
Context Window1.05M262.14K
Release Date

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionQwen3 Max ThinkingOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 Max Thinking is estimated at $2.73 vs $120 for GPT-5.4 Pro, saving $117.27 (97.7% lower).
High-volume input processingQwen3 Max ThinkingLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsQwen3 Max ThinkingLower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workGPT-5.4 ProA 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-5.4 Pro when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-5.4 Pro when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-5.4 Pro when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
  • gpt-oss-120b can replace GPT-5.4 Pro when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.13.
Larger context near this budget
Popular competitors
  • No popular competitor is currently available.

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Open cheapest models

Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

OpenAI catalog

Review all tracked OpenAI models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

Open OpenAI models

Qwen catalog

Check other Qwen models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Qwen models
GPT-5.4 Pro

GPT-5.4 Pro is OpenAI's most advanced model, building on GPT-5.4's unified architecture with enhanced reasoning capabilities for complex, high-stakes tasks. It features a 1M+ token context window (922K input, 128K...

Qwen3 Max Thinking

Qwen3-Max-Thinking is the flagship reasoning model in the Qwen3 series, designed for high-stakes cognitive tasks that require deep, multi-step reasoning. By significantly scaling model capacity and reinforcement learning compute, it...