o3 vs Qwen 3.5 397B
Complete pricing and performance comparison between OpenAI's o3 and Alibaba's Qwen 3.5 397B.
Quick Verdict
Cheaper
Qwen 3.5 397B
3.3x cheaper input, 2.2x cheaper output
Larger Context
o3
200K vs 128K
Pricing Comparison
| Spec | o3 | Qwen 3.5 397B | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI | Alibaba | |
| Input / 1M tokens | $2 | $0.6 | Qwen 3.5 397B is 70% more expensive |
| Output / 1M tokens | $8 | $3.6 | Qwen 3.5 397B is 55% more expensive |
| Context Window | 200K | 128K | 2x difference |
| Max Output | 100K | 33K | |
| Tokenizer | o200k_base | cl100k_base |
Performance Benchmarks
| Metric | o3 | Qwen 3.5 397B | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality Index | 38 | -- | N/A |
| Output Speed | 79 tok/s | -- | N/A |
| Value (Quality/$) | 19.2 | -- | Higher = better value |
Benchmark data from Artificial Analysis. Quality Index is a composite score across reasoning, coding, and knowledge tasks.
Cost at Scale
Estimated cost at different usage levels (3:1 input-to-output token ratio, typical for chat).
| Usage | o3 | Qwen 3.5 397B | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
Single request 1K in / 300 out | $0.0044 | $0.0017 | Qwen 3.5 397B saves $0.0027 |
10 requests 10K in / 3K out | $0.044 | $0.017 | Qwen 3.5 397B saves $0.027 |
100 requests 100K in / 30K out | $0.440 | $0.168 | Qwen 3.5 397B saves $0.272 |
1,000 requests 1M in / 300K out | $4.40 | $1.68 | Qwen 3.5 397B saves $2.72 |
10,000 requests 10M in / 3M out | $44.00 | $16.80 | Qwen 3.5 397B saves $27.20 |
1M requests/mo 1B in / 300M out | $4400.00 | $1680.00 | Qwen 3.5 397B saves $2720.00 |
Pros & Cons
o3 Strengths
- +Larger context window (200K vs 128K)
- +Higher max output tokens
Qwen 3.5 397B Strengths
- +Cheaper input tokens
- +Cheaper output tokens
When to Use Each Model
Choose o3 for
- →Long documents, large codebases, or multi-turn conversations
- →Generating long-form content or detailed code
Choose Qwen 3.5 397B for
- →Budget-conscious projects where cost is the primary factor
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper, o3 or Qwen 3.5 397B?
For input tokens, Qwen 3.5 397B is 3.3x cheaper at $0.6/1M tokens. For output tokens, Qwen 3.5 397B is 2.2x cheaper at $3.6/1M tokens. At typical usage (1M input + 300K output), o3 costs $4.40 vs Qwen 3.5 397B at $1.68.
What's the context window difference?
o3 supports 200K context (200,000 tokens), while Qwen 3.5 397B supports 128K (128,000 tokens). o3 can handle 2x more context in a single request.
Which model has better benchmarks?
When should I choose o3 over Qwen 3.5 397B?
Choose o3 when you need: Larger context window (200K vs 128K), Higher max output tokens. Choose Qwen 3.5 397B when you need: Cheaper input tokens, Cheaper output tokens.
How much would 10,000 API requests cost?
At 1K input + 300 output tokens per request (typical chat): o3 = $44.00, Qwen 3.5 397B = $16.80. At 10K input + 1K output per request (longer conversations): o3 = $280.00, Qwen 3.5 397B = $96.00.