GPT-5.5 (High) vs Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 (High) by OpenAI or Qwen3.6 35B A3B (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-5.5 (High) scores 18.8 points higher (37.0 vs 18.2) but costs 3.8× as much to run the benchmark ($3411 vs $896; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.5 (High) when you need intelligence above 18.2, and Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reasoning) when 18.2 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.5 (High) | Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 37.0 | 18.2 | −50.8% Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reas… is 50.8% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,410.76 | $896.39 | −73.7% Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reas… is 73.7% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 36.31s | 46.69s | +28.6% Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reas… is 28.6% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $5.00 / $30.0 | $0.38 / $2.25 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video |
Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reasoning) vs GPT-5.5 (High): 50.8% less intelligence, 73.7% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 28.6% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.5 (High) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
- Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 51.00 for $662.
GPT-5.5 (High)Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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