OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) vs Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B

OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) comes out ahead on the data we track: 3 advantages and none for Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B.

Key numbers

SpecOpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch)Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B
ProviderOpenAIQwen
Input price (per 1M tokens)$0.03$0.46
Output price (per 1M tokens)$0.14$1.82
Blended price (3:1 input/output)$0.06$0.80
Cheaper than … of all models we track87%45%
Context window131K tokens (~197 pages)131K tokens (~197 pages)
Larger context than … of all models23%23%
Max output per response118K tokens (~88,500 words)8K tokens (~6,100 words)
Input typestexttext
Output typestexttext
Free variantNoNo
Listed since2025-08-052025-04-28
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What it costs for real workloads

Monthly cost at list price for five common workloads. Token counts per unit are stated so you can scale them to your own traffic. A workload that does not fit a model's context window is marked rather than priced.

Workload (per month)OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch)Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22BDifference
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens)
$4.94$70.53OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) saves $65.59
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens)
$4.91$72.80OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) saves $67.89
Coding / tool-using agent
2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context (60,000 in / 6,000 out tokens)
$5.18$76.44OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) saves $71.26
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens)
$3.18$47.32OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) saves $44.14
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass (100,000 in / 2,000 out tokens)
$1.62$24.57OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) saves $22.95

Capabilities side by side

CapabilityOpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch)Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22BWhat it lets you do
Tool / function calling✓ Yes✓ Yescall your APIs and run agent loops
Structured output (JSON schema)✓ Yes✓ Yesreturn JSON that validates against your schema
Reasoning / thinking mode✓ Yes✓ Yesspend extra tokens thinking before answering hard problems
Image input——read screenshots, charts and scanned pages
Audio input——take speech or audio directly
File / PDF input——accept documents without your own parsing step
Image output——generate images, not just text
Built-in web search——answer from live web results
Seed (reproducible sampling)✓ Yes✓ Yesrepeat a generation for tests and evals
Log-probabilities——read token confidence for classification and scoring

From each model's published parameters and input/output types. “—” means not advertised, not proven absent.

Price history

DateModelInput / 1MOutput / 1M
2026-09-24OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch)$0.03$0.14

Which should you choose?

Choose OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) if…

  • cost matters at scale — it is 93% cheaper on a typical 3:1 input/output mix ($4.94 vs $70.53 a month for 50,000 support chats)
  • you generate long outputs in one go — up to 118K tokens (about 88,500 words) per response
  • you want the newer model — released 2025-08-05, 3 months after the other

Choose Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B if…

No advantage on the data we track — pick it for provider preference or output quality on your own prompts.

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) better than Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B?

OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) comes out ahead on the data we track: 3 advantages and none for Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B.

Which is cheaper, OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) or Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B?

OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) is cheaper: $0.06 vs $0.80 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 93% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $4.94 against $70.53.

How much do OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) and Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B cost per million tokens?

OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) costs $0.03 per 1M input tokens and $0.14 per 1M output tokens; Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B costs $0.46 input and $1.82 output. Output tokens are billed separately, so long answers shift the gap.

Which has the bigger context window, OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) or Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B?

Both take 131K tokens per request — roughly 197 pages of text.

Do OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) and Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B support function calling and JSON output?

Tool calling — OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch): yes, Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B: yes. JSON-schema structured output — OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch): yes, Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B: yes.

Can OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) or Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B read images?

Neither accepts image input — both are text-in models.

Is OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) or Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B free to use?

No free variant is listed for either; both are pay-per-token.

What is the maximum output length of OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) and Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B?

OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) can write up to 118K tokens (about 88,500 words) per response; Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B up to 8K (about 6,100 words).

When were OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) and Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B released?

OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) was listed on 2025-08-05; Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B on 2025-04-28.

Has the price of OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) or Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B changed?

OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch): input price cut 80% ($0.15 → $0.03/1M), output price cut 77% ($0.60 → $0.14/1M) on 2026-09-24. Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B: price unchanged since we started tracking it on 2026-03-10.

About the two models

Compare OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) with other models

Compare Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B with other models

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