Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B vs GPT-5 Codex — LLM API Cost Comparison
Compare Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (Qwen (Alibaba)) vs GPT-5 Codex (OpenAI) on cost per million tokens, context window, and monthly spend.
Prices verified 2026-06-06 · Pricing may change — use the calculator for current estimates
- Input
- $0.22/1M tokens
- Output
- $1.8/1M tokens
- Context
- 1M tokens
- Released
- 2025-07
Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B; flagship code model; 1M context
- Input
- $1.25/1M tokens
- Output
- $10/1M tokens
- Context
- 400K tokens
- Released
- 2025-09
GPT-5 Codex; 400K context; coding-optimized
Monthly Cost by Usage Tier (70% input / 30% output ratio)
| Usage | Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B | GPT-5 Codex | Cheaper by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light (1M tokens) | $0.694 | $3.88 | Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (82%) |
| Moderate (10M tokens) | $6.94 | $38.75 | Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (82%) |
| Heavy (100M tokens) | $69.40 | $388 | Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (82%) |
| Very Heavy (1B tokens) | $694 | $3,875 | Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (82%) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper — Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B or GPT-5 Codex?
For input tokens, Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B is cheaper at $0.22/1M tokens — 5.7× less than $1.25/1M. For output tokens, Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B wins at $1.8/1M vs $10/1M. At heavy workloads (100M tokens/month), the cost difference can be significant.
What is the context window difference between Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B and GPT-5 Codex?
Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B supports 1,048,576 tokens per request; GPT-5 Codex supports 400,000 tokens. Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B wins on context length, making it better for long documents, large codebases, or extended conversations without chunking.
When should I choose Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B over GPT-5 Codex?
Choose Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (Qwen (Alibaba)) if you prefer Qwen (Alibaba)'s ecosystem, tooling, or reliability track record. Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B; flagship code model; 1M context. Choose GPT-5 Codex (OpenAI) if GPT-5 Codex; 400K context; coding-optimized. the price/performance fits your workload better. Use this calculator to find the break-even point for your exact token volume.
How much does 1 billion tokens cost on Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B vs GPT-5 Codex?
At 700M input + 300M output tokens (1B total): Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B costs $694; GPT-5 Codex costs $3875. The difference is $3181/billion tokens at this 70/30 input/output ratio.