GPT-5.5 vs Qwen3-235B-A22B
GPT-5.5 (2026) and Qwen3-235B-A22B (2025) are frontier reasoning models from OpenAI and Alibaba. GPT-5.5 ships a 1.05m-token context window, while Qwen3-235B-A22B ships a 128k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, GPT-5.5 leads by 5.3 pts. On pricing, GPT-5.5 ranges from $5 to $8/1M input tokens by tier; Qwen3-235B-A22B costs $0.09/1M input tokens. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
GPT-5.5 fits 8x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and Qwen3-235B-A22B for tighter calls.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | GPT-5.5 | Qwen3-235B-A22B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents | provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Coding, RAG, and Long context |
| Context window | 1.05m | 128k |
| Cheapest output | $30/1M tokens | $0.58/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 4 tracked | 5 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | MMLU PRO leader | 4 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- GPT-5.5 holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 5.3 points.
- GPT-5.5 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- GPT-5.5 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning in local model data.
- Local decision data tags GPT-5.5 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Qwen3-235B-A22B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.58/1M tokens.
- Qwen3-235B-A22B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3-235B-A22B for Coding, RAG, and Long context.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
GPT-5.5
$11,500
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenAI API 0-272K input tokens
Qwen3-235B-A22B
$217
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Novita AI
Estimated monthly gap: $11,283. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on AWS Bedrock and OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3-235B-A22B is $29.42/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and AWS Bedrock; start route-level A/B tests there.
- GPT-5.5 is $29.42/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- GPT-5.5 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-04-23 | 2025-04-29 |
| Context window | 1.05m | 128k |
| Parameters | — | 235B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Proprietary | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Proprietary | Open source |
| Weights | Not released | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-12 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | GPT-5.5 | Qwen3-235B-A22B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price |
| $0.09/1M tokens |
| Output price |
| $0.58/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | GPT-5.5 | Qwen3-235B-A22B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | Yes | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | GPT-5.5 | Qwen3-235B-A22B |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 88.1 | 82.8 |
| Google-Proof Q&A | 93.6 | 86.1 |
| HumanEval | 94.2 | 92.7 |
| Aider Polyglot | 88.0 | 59.6 |
Continue comparing
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.