Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 17, 2026
In this head-to-head showdown, Qwen3 235B delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,440 vs 1,410), while Qwen3 235B leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (59.4%), while Qwen3 235B is more budget-friendly at $1.82/1M per 1M output tokens, while GPT-5 mini provides faster response streaming (155 tok/s). Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.
Speed, cost, and intelligence tradeoffs across the OpenAI lineup
Δ 30 Arena Elo pts
155 tok/s
$1.8199999999999998 / 1M output
Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.
Each spoke is a skill. Farther from the center is better (0–100th percentile). Tap any dot to inspect details.
Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.
Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy
Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness
Cost per million tokens and max context window length
| Benchmark | GPT-5 mini | Qwen3 235B | Advantage Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preference Elo | Qwen3 235B (+30) | ||
| Coding Elo | — | — | |
| LiveBench | Qwen3 235B (+2.3%) | ||
| SWE-bench | Qwen3 235B (+7%) | ||
| GPQA Diamond | Qwen3 235B (+4.8%) | ||
| Time to first token | GPT-5 mini (+180 ms) | ||
| Output speed | 155 tok/s | 74 tok/s | GPT-5 mini (+81 tok/s) |
| Input price | $0.25/1M | $0.455/1M | GPT-5 mini (+$0.205/1M) |
| Output price | $1.82/1M | Qwen3 235B (+$0.18/1M) | |
| Context window | GPT-5 mini (+269k) |
Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).
GPT-5 mini is estimated to save $4.47/month ($54/year).
Higher SWE-bench (59.4%).
Lower output list price ($1.82/1M).
Lower TTFT (140 ms).
Larger window (400k).
GPT-5 mini is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.
| Target Workload | Recommended Pick | Evaluation Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Repo / coding agents | Qwen3 235B | Higher SWE-bench (59.4%). |
| High-volume chat | Qwen3 235B | Lower output list price ($1.82/1M). |
| Voice / low-latency UI | GPT-5 mini | Lower TTFT (140 ms). |
| Long-document RAG | GPT-5 mini | Larger window (400k). |
| Screenshots / vision | GPT-5 mini | GPT-5 mini is the side marked multimodal in the catalog. |
Sep 2025 open-weight mixture-of-experts. Self-host path. Don’t confuse it with Qwen 3 Max.
High-volume agents that cannot pay Sol. Compare to Luna before you assume the new cheap SKU wins.
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The real PNG is generated at /compare/gpt-5-mini-vs-qwen-3-235b/opengraph-image for crawlers.
Verified head-to-head card
