GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) vs Qwen3.8 27B (Low)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) by OpenAI or Qwen3.8 27B (Low) 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-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) scores 17.8 points higher (44.0 vs 26.2) but costs 1.8× as much to run the benchmark ($2082 vs $1165; flagship vs premium cost classes). Pick GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Qwen3.8 27B (Low).
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) | Qwen3.8 27B (Low) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 44.0 | 26.2 | −40.5% Qwen3.8 27B (Low) is 40.5% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,082.28 | $1,164.93 | −44.1% Qwen3.8 27B (Low) is 44.1% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 47.66s | 56.02s | +17.5% Qwen3.8 27B (Low) is 17.5% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $4.00 / $20.0 | $0.50 / $3.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video |
Qwen3.8 27B (Low) vs GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh): 40.5% less intelligence, 44.1% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 17.5% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- Qwen3.8 27B (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh)Qwen3.8 27B (Low)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-5-6-sol-xhigh/qwen3-8-27b-low · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-sol-xhigh/qwen3-8-27b-low?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill