API cost decision in 10 seconds

GPT-5 Mini vs Qwen3 235B A22B

Pick GPT-5 Mini when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T18:08:02Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick GPT-5 Mini when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5 Mini is estimated at $1.25 vs $1.36 for Qwen3 235B A22B, saving $0.11 (8.4% lower).

Cost-first pickGPT-5 Mini

Context-first pickGPT-5 Mini

Sample savings$0.118.4%

10x traffic gap$1.15

GPT-5 Mini is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $1.15. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors GPT-5 Mini, balanced workload favors GPT-5 Mini, and output-heavy chatbot favors Qwen3 235B A22B.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	GPT-5 Mini	Qwen3 235B A22B
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	GPT-5 Mini	$2.25	$3.19
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	GPT-5 Mini	$2.25	$2.27
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Qwen3 235B A22B	$10.25	$9.55

Cheaper input GPT-5 Mini $0.25 vs $0.455 / 1M

GPT-5 Mini is $0.21 cheaper per 1M input tokens (45.1% lower; 1.82x difference).

Cheaper output Qwen3 235B A22B $2 vs $1.82 / 1M

Qwen3 235B A22B is $0.18 cheaper per 1M output tokens (9% lower; 1.1x difference).

Larger context GPT-5 Mini 400K vs 131.07K

GPT-5 Mini has 268.93K more context (3.05x larger).

Sample workload GPT-5 Mini $1.25 vs $1.36

GPT-5 Mini is $0.11 cheaper on the standard workload (8.4% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

GPT-5 Mini Calculating… Estimated API cost

Qwen3 235B A22B 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

GPT-5 Mini has the lower input price; Qwen3 235B A22B has the lower output price; GPT-5 Mini offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, GPT-5 Mini is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.25 for GPT-5 Mini and $1.36 for Qwen3 235B A22B.

Best Fit

Choose GPT-5 Mini when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Qwen3 235B A22B when you care most about lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5 Mini is estimated at $1.25 vs $1.36 for Qwen3 235B A22B, saving $0.11 (8.4% lower).
GPT-5 Mini is $0.11 cheaper on the standard workload (8.4% lower).
GPT-5 Mini is $0.21 cheaper per 1M input tokens (45.1% lower; 1.82x difference).
Qwen3 235B A22B is $0.18 cheaper per 1M output tokens (9% lower; 1.1x difference).
GPT-5 Mini has 268.93K more context (3.05x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	GPT-5 Mini (OpenAI)	Qwen3 235B A22B (Qwen)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.25	$0.455
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2	$1.82
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$1.25	$1.36
Context Window	400K	131.07K
Release Date	2025-08-07	2025-04-28
Popularity	#33	#131

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	GPT-5 Mini	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5 Mini is estimated at $1.25 vs $1.36 for Qwen3 235B A22B, saving $0.11 (8.4% lower).
High-volume input processing	GPT-5 Mini	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Qwen3 235B A22B	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	GPT-5 Mini	A 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 Mini when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-5 Mini when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-5 Mini when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
gpt-oss-120b can replace GPT-5 Mini 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.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.87 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

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 Mini

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