API cost decision in 10 seconds

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking vs GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini

Pick GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini when budget and context both matter.

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

Budget verdict

Pick GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is estimated at $1.25 vs $1.56 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking, saving $0.31 (19.9% lower).

Cost-first pickGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini
Context-first pickGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini
Sample savings$0.3119.9%
10x traffic gap$3.1

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $3.1. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickQwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini$2.6$2.25
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini$2.86$2.25
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini$13.26$10.25
Cheaper input GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini $0.26 vs $0.25 / 1M

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is $0.01 cheaper per 1M input tokens (3.8% lower; 1.04x difference).

Cheaper output GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini $2.6 vs $2 / 1M

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is $0.6 cheaper per 1M output tokens (23.1% lower; 1.3x difference).

Larger context GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini 131.07K vs 400K

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini has 268.93K more context (3.05x larger).

Sample workload GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini $1.56 vs $1.25

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is $0.31 cheaper on the standard workload (19.9% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking Calculating… Estimated API cost
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini 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-5.1-Codex-Mini has the lower input price; GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini has the lower output price; GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.56 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking and $1.25 for GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini.

Best Fit

Choose Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.

Choose GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is estimated at $1.25 vs $1.56 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking, saving $0.31 (19.9% lower).
  • GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is $0.31 cheaper on the standard workload (19.9% lower).
  • GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is $0.01 cheaper per 1M input tokens (3.8% lower; 1.04x difference).
  • GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is $0.6 cheaper per 1M output tokens (23.1% lower; 1.3x difference).
  • GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini has 268.93K more context (3.05x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureQwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
(Qwen)		GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini
(OpenAI)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0.26$0.25
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$2.6$2
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$1.56$1.25
Context Window131.07K400K
Release Date
Popularity#103#141

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionGPT-5.1-Codex-MiniOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is estimated at $1.25 vs $1.56 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking, saving $0.31 (19.9% lower).
High-volume input processingGPT-5.1-Codex-MiniLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsGPT-5.1-Codex-MiniLower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workGPT-5.1-Codex-MiniA 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 VL 235B A22B Thinking when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (free) can replace Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • Qwen2.5 7B Instruct can replace Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
  • Qwen3.5-9B can replace Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.11.
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.
  • MiMo-V2.5 offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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Qwen catalog

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

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OpenAI catalog

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

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Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Qwen3-VL-235B-A22B Thinking is a multimodal model that unifies strong text generation with visual understanding across images and video. The Thinking model is optimized for multimodal reasoning in STEM and math....

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini

GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is a smaller and faster version of GPT-5.1-Codex