GPT-4 vs Qwen 3.6 Plus
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
GPT-4
OpenAIOriginal GPT-4. Most expensive OpenAI model, largely superseded by newer options.
| Input | $30.00/M |
| Output | $60.00/M |
| Context | 8K tokens |
| Best For | Legacy applications requiring GPT-4 specifically |
| Benchmark | 68/100 |
Qwen 3.6 Plus
QwenQwen's latest general-purpose model. Competitive with Claude Sonnet pricing.
| Input | $3.00/M |
| Output | $15.00/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | Chinese/English bilingual coding, general tasks |
| Benchmark | 72/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | GPT-4 | Qwen 3.6 Plus | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68 | 72 | Qwen3 6 Plus leads by 4pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 60 | 66 | Qwen3 6 Plus leads by 6pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 70 | 74 | Qwen3 6 Plus leads by 4pts |
| HumanEval | 86 | 88 | Qwen3 6 Plus leads by 2pts |
| BigCodeBench | 54 | 58 | Qwen3 6 Plus leads by 4pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | GPT-4 | Qwen 3.6 Plus | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $2.85 | $0.62 | Qwen 3.6 Plus saves $2.23 (78%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $22.50 | $4.66 | Qwen 3.6 Plus saves $17.84 (79%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $112.50 | $23.29 | Qwen 3.6 Plus saves $89.21 (79%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $6.75 | $1.20 | Qwen 3.6 Plus saves $5.55 (82%) |
Value Analysis (Price per Benchmark Score Point)
Lower is better — how much you pay for each point of benchmark performance.
| Model | Overall Score | Price per Score Point | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-4 | 68 | $0.441/pt | Higher cost per point |
| Qwen 3.6 Plus | 72 | $0.011/pt | Better value |
Qwen 3.6 Plus delivers the best value at $0.011 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
GPT-4
- + Original breakthrough model
- - Two generations behind
- - Expensive
Qwen 3.6 Plus
- + Latest Qwen architecture
- + Strong performance
- - Newer model
Verdict
Qwen 3.6 Plus wins on both price and performance — $3.00/M input with a benchmark score of 72/100.
For most developers, this is the clear choice between these two models.
Compare with Other Models
Claude Sonnet 4
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Claude Opus 4
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Claude 3.5 Sonnet
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Claude 3.5 Haiku
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Claude 3 Opus
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Claude 3 Sonnet
AnthropicFirst generation Sonnet. Balanced performance for general tasks.