OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) vs Qwen: Qwen3 8B

OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) comes out ahead on the data we track: 3 advantages and none for Qwen: Qwen3 8B.

Key numbers

SpecOpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch)Qwen: Qwen3 8B
ProviderOpenAIQwen
Input price (per 1M tokens)$0.03$0.12
Output price (per 1M tokens)$0.14$0.46
Blended price (3:1 input/output)$0.06$0.20
Cheaper than … of all models we track87%69%
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 8BDifference
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens)
$4.94$17.88OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) saves $12.93
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens)
$4.91$18.59OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) saves $13.68
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$19.50OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) saves $14.32
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens)
$3.18$12.09OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) saves $8.91
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$6.30OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) saves $4.69

Capabilities side by side

CapabilityOpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch)Qwen: Qwen3 8BWhat 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
2026-08-06Qwen: Qwen3 8B$0.12$0.46

Which should you choose?

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

  • cost matters at scale — it is 72% cheaper on a typical 3:1 input/output mix ($4.94 vs $17.88 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 8B 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 8B?

OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) comes out ahead on the data we track: 3 advantages and none for Qwen: Qwen3 8B.

Which is cheaper, OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) or Qwen: Qwen3 8B?

OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) is cheaper: $0.06 vs $0.20 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 72% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $4.94 against $17.88.

How much do OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) and Qwen: Qwen3 8B 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 8B costs $0.12 input and $0.46 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 8B?

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

Do OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) and Qwen: Qwen3 8B support function calling and JSON output?

Tool calling — OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch): yes, Qwen: Qwen3 8B: yes. JSON-schema structured output — OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch): yes, Qwen: Qwen3 8B: yes.

Can OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) or Qwen: Qwen3 8B read images?

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

Is OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) or Qwen: Qwen3 8B 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 8B?

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

When were OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) and Qwen: Qwen3 8B released?

OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) was listed on 2025-08-05; Qwen: Qwen3 8B on 2025-04-28.

Has the price of OpenAI: gpt-oss-120b (batch) or Qwen: Qwen3 8B 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 8B: input price raised 57% ($0.05 → $0.12/1M), output price raised 12% ($0.40 → $0.46/1M) on 2026-08-06.

About the two models

Qwen

Qwen: Qwen3 8B

Qwen3-8B is a dense 8.2B parameter causal language model from the Qwen3 series, designed for both reasoning-heavy tasks and efficient dialogue. It supports seamless switching between "thinking" mode for math,...

Full Qwen: Qwen3 8B specs →

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

Compare Qwen: Qwen3 8B with other models

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