OpenAI o4-mini vs Qwen Turbo
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
OpenAI o4-mini
OpenAIUpdated mini reasoning model. Similar pricing to o3-mini with updated capabilities.
| Input | $1.10/M |
| Output | $4.40/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | General reasoning, coding tasks |
| Benchmark | 72/100 |
Qwen Turbo
QwenFastest and cheapest Qwen model. Good for high-volume tasks.
| Input | $0.080/M |
| Output | $0.240/M |
| Context | 1M tokens |
| Best For | High-volume tasks, simple coding |
| Benchmark | 42/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | OpenAI o4-mini | Qwen Turbo | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 72 | 42 | o4-mini leads by 30pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 66 | 35 | o4-mini leads by 31pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 74 | 44 | o4-mini leads by 30pts |
| HumanEval | 92 | 65 | o4-mini leads by 27pts |
| BigCodeBench | 56 | 28 | o4-mini leads by 28pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | OpenAI o4-mini | Qwen Turbo | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.17 | $0.01 | Qwen Turbo saves $0.16 (94%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $1.27 | $0.08 | Qwen Turbo saves $1.19 (94%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $6.33 | $0.38 | Qwen Turbo saves $5.95 (94%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.30 | $0.02 | Qwen Turbo saves $0.28 (93%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI o4-mini | 72 | $0.015/pt | Higher cost per point |
| Qwen Turbo | 42 | $0.002/pt | Better value |
Qwen Turbo delivers the best value at $0.002 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
OpenAI o4-mini
- + Improved reasoning at mini price
- - New model, limited data
Qwen Turbo
- + Cheapest option
- + Fast
- - Basic coding only
Verdict
Qwen Turbo is cheaper at $0.080/M, but OpenAI o4-mini scores higher on benchmarks (72 vs 42).
Choose Qwen Turbo for cost-sensitive projects, OpenAI o4-mini when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
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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
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