API cost decision in 10 seconds

gpt-oss-20b (free) vs Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507

Pick gpt-oss-20b (free) for lower cost; pick Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated:  Data confirmed:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick gpt-oss-20b (free) for lower cost; pick Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-20b (free) is estimated at $0 vs $0.9 for Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507, saving $0.9 (100% lower).

Cost-first pickgpt-oss-20b (free)
Context-first pickQwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507
Sample savings$0.9100%
10x traffic gap$8.97

Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 has more context, but gpt-oss-20b (free) saves $0.9 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $8.97. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

gpt-oss-20b (free) stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickgpt-oss-20b (free)Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputgpt-oss-20b (free)$0$1.5
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputgpt-oss-20b (free)$0$1.64
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputgpt-oss-20b (free)$0$7.62
Cheaper input gpt-oss-20b (free) $0 vs $0.1495 / 1M

gpt-oss-20b (free) is free for input tokens while Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 costs $0.15 per 1M tokens.

Cheaper output gpt-oss-20b (free) $0 vs $1.495 / 1M

gpt-oss-20b (free) is free for output tokens while Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 costs $1.5 per 1M tokens.

Larger context Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 131.07K vs 262.14K

Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).

Sample workload gpt-oss-20b (free) $0 vs $0.9

gpt-oss-20b (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $0.9.

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
gpt-oss-20b (free) Calculating… Estimated API cost
Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 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-oss-20b (free) has the lower input price; gpt-oss-20b (free) has the lower output price; Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, gpt-oss-20b (free) is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0 for gpt-oss-20b (free) and $0.9 for Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507.

Best Fit

Choose gpt-oss-20b (free) when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-20b (free) is estimated at $0 vs $0.9 for Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507, saving $0.9 (100% lower).
  • gpt-oss-20b (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $0.9.
  • gpt-oss-20b (free) is free for input tokens while Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 costs $0.15 per 1M tokens.
  • gpt-oss-20b (free) is free for output tokens while Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 costs $1.5 per 1M tokens.
  • Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
Featuregpt-oss-20b (free)
(OpenAI)		Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507
(Qwen)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0$0.1495
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$0$1.495
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$0$0.9
Context Window131.07K262.14K
Release Date
Popularity#72#133

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productiongpt-oss-20b (free)On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-20b (free) is estimated at $0 vs $0.9 for Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507, saving $0.9 (100% lower).
High-volume input processinggpt-oss-20b (free)Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsgpt-oss-20b (free)Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workQwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) can replace Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (free) can replace Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • Qwen2.5 7B Instruct can replace Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
  • Qwen3.5-9B can replace Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.11.
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OpenAI catalog

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Qwen catalog

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gpt-oss-20b (free)

gpt-oss-20b is an open-weight 21B parameter model released by OpenAI under the Apache 2.0 license. It uses a Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture with 3.6B active parameters per forward pass, optimized for...

Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 is a high-performance, open-weight Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) language model optimized for complex reasoning tasks. It activates 22B of its 235B parameters per forward pass and natively supports up to 262,144...