GPT-6 Astra (max) vs Qwen3 Coder Next
Which is better for the money: GPT-6 Astra (max) by OpenAI or Qwen3 Coder Next by Alibaba? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-09-09.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-6 Astra (max) scores 42.7 points higher (52.8 vs 10.1) but costs 11× as much to run the benchmark ($5324 vs $476; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-6 Astra (max) when you need intelligence above 10.1, and Qwen3 Coder Next when 10.1 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-6 Astra (max) | Qwen3 Coder Next | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 52.8 | 10.1 | −80.9% Qwen3 Coder Next is 80.9% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $5,324.10 | $476.03 | −91.1% Qwen3 Coder Next is 91.1% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 331.33s | 5.52s | −98.3% Qwen3 Coder Next is 98.3% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $10.0 / $50.0 | $0.35 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Not reported | Not reported |
Qwen3 Coder Next vs GPT-6 Astra (max): 80.9% less intelligence, 91.1% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 98.3% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-6 Astra (max) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
- Qwen3 Coder Next is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GLM-5.3-Flash scores 41.90 for $280.
GPT-6 Astra (max)Qwen3 Coder NextToday'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-6-astra/qwen3-coder-next · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-6-astra/qwen3-coder-next?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill