GPT-5.5 (High) vs Qwen3.8 27B (Non-reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 (High) by OpenAI or Qwen3.8 27B (Non-reasoning) by Alibaba? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-27.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.5 (High) scores 16.8 points higher (37.0 vs 20.2) but costs 1.6× as much to run the benchmark ($3181 vs $2022; both flagship class). Pick GPT-5.5 (High) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Qwen3.8 27B (Non-reasoning).
| Metric | GPT-5.5 (High) | Qwen3.8 27B (Non-reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 37.0 | 20.2 | −45.4% Qwen3.8 27B (Non-reas… is 45.4% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,181.05 | $2,022.49 | −36.4% Qwen3.8 27B (Non-reas… is 36.4% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 35.54s | 13.84s | −61.1% Qwen3.8 27B (Non-reas… is 61.1% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $5.00 / $30.0 | $0.50 / $3.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video |
Qwen3.8 27B (Non-reasoning) vs GPT-5.5 (High): 45.4% less intelligence, 36.4% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 61.1% faster 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.
- Qwen3.8 27B (Non-reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
GPT-5.5 (High)Qwen3.8 27B (Non-reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-5-high/qwen3-8-27b-non-reasoning · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-5-high/qwen3-8-27b-non-reasoning?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill