API cost decision in 10 seconds

Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 vs gpt-oss-20b

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

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-oss-20b for lower cost; pick Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-20b is estimated at $0.1 vs $0.12 for Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507, saving $0.02 (17.4% lower).

Cost-first pickgpt-oss-20b

Context-first pickQwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507

Sample savings$0.0217.4%

10x traffic gap$0.21

Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 has more context, but gpt-oss-20b saves $0.02 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.21. 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-oss-20b, balanced workload favors gpt-oss-20b, and output-heavy chatbot favors Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507	gpt-oss-20b
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	gpt-oss-20b	$0.4	$0.22
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	gpt-oss-20b	$0.17	$0.17
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507	$0.57	$0.73

Cheaper input gpt-oss-20b $0.071 vs $0.03 / 1M

gpt-oss-20b is $0.04 cheaper per 1M input tokens (57.7% lower; 2.37x difference).

Cheaper output Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 $0.1 vs $0.14 / 1M

Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 is $0.04 cheaper per 1M output tokens (28.6% lower; 1.4x difference).

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

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

Sample workload gpt-oss-20b $0.12 vs $0.1

gpt-oss-20b is $0.02 cheaper on the standard workload (17.4% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 Calculating… Estimated API cost

gpt-oss-20b 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 has the lower input price; Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 has the lower output price; Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, gpt-oss-20b is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.12 for Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 and $0.1 for gpt-oss-20b.

Best Fit

Choose Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 when you care most about lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Choose gpt-oss-20b when you care most about lower input-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-20b is estimated at $0.1 vs $0.12 for Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507, saving $0.02 (17.4% lower).
gpt-oss-20b is $0.02 cheaper on the standard workload (17.4% lower).
gpt-oss-20b is $0.04 cheaper per 1M input tokens (57.7% lower; 2.37x difference).
Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 is $0.04 cheaper per 1M output tokens (28.6% lower; 1.4x difference).
Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 (Qwen)	gpt-oss-20b (OpenAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.071	$0.03
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.1	$0.14
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.12	$0.1
Context Window	262.14K	131.07K
Release Date	2025-07-21	2025-08-05
Popularity	#42	#67

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	gpt-oss-20b	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-20b is estimated at $0.1 vs $0.12 for Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507, saving $0.02 (17.4% lower).
High-volume input processing	gpt-oss-20b	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507	A 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 Instruct 2507 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (free) can replace Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct can replace Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
Qwen3.5-9B can replace Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.11.

Larger context near this budget

Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
Lyria 3 Clip Preview offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
Lyria 3 Pro Preview offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.

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Provider catalogs

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Qwen catalog

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OpenAI catalog

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Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is a multilingual, instruction-tuned mixture-of-experts language model based on the Qwen3-235B architecture, with 22B active parameters per forward pass. It is optimized for general-purpose text generation, including instruction following,...

gpt-oss-20b

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...