GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) vs Qwen3.6 27B (Reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) by OpenAI or Qwen3.6 27B (Reasoning) by Alibaba? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-26.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) scores 2.7 points higher (24.1 vs 21.4) but costs 1.3× as much to run the benchmark ($1524 vs $1145; both premium class). Pick GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Qwen3.6 27B (Reasoning).
| Metric | GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) | Qwen3.6 27B (Reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 24.1 | 21.4 | −11.2% Qwen3.6 27B (Reasonin… is 11.2% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,524.02 | $1,145.36 | −24.8% Qwen3.6 27B (Reasonin… is 24.8% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 108.46s | 111.39s | +2.7% Qwen3.6 27B (Reasonin… is 2.7% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.75 / $4.50 | $0.60 / $3.60 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video |
Qwen3.6 27B (Reasoning) vs GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh): 11.2% less intelligence, 24.8% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 2.7% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- Qwen3.6 27B (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh)Qwen3.6 27B (Reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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