GPT-5.6 Sol vs Qwen3.5 35B A3B
Wins 6 of 8 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Images and charts · Math · Long documents
Wins 1 of 8 areas
Facts
GPT-5.6 Sol is the stronger all-rounder.Qwen3.5 35B A3B is cheaper and better at facts.
Scores updated · 32 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the eight areas we test. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own60GPT-5.6 Sol6 of 6 tests
- CodingWriting and fixing software50GPT-5.6 Sol5 of 5 tests
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking30GPT-5.6 Sol3 of 3 tests
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video20GPT-5.6 Sol2 of 2 tests
- MathCompetition and research-level math10GPT-5.6 Sol1 of 1 test
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10GPT-5.6 Sol1 of 1 test
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up12Qwen3.5 35B A3B2 of 3 tests
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked00Even0 each · 1 tie
Math, long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Qwen3.5 35B A3B costs 91% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where GPT-5.6 Sol pulls ahead
- Real work tasks from 44 professionsGDPVal+50points ahead
- Command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench 2.1+47.2points ahead
- Hard command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench Hard+39.4points ahead
Where Qwen3.5 35B A3B pulls ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+6.8points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 32 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingGPT-5.6 Sol
- Terminal-Bench 2.1GPT-5.6 Sol by 47.28840.8+47.2
- Terminal-Bench HardGPT-5.6 Sol by 39.465.926.5+39.4
- LMArena · WebDevGPT-5.6 Sol by 366 rating points16161250+366 rating
- SWE-bench ProGPT-5.6 Sol by 2064.644.6+20
- SciCodeGPT-5.6 Sol by 19.457.137.7+19.4
AgentsGPT-5.6 Sol
- GDPValGPT-5.6 Sol by 5055.45.4+50
- τ-Bench V3 · BankingGPT-5.6 Sol by 39.444.34.9+39.4
- AA IT-Bench SREGPT-5.6 Sol by 34.756.221.5+34.7
- BrowseCompGPT-5.6 Sol by 29.490.461+29.4
- OSWorld-VerifiedGPT-5.6 Sol by 28.58354.5+28.5
- MCP AtlasGPT-5.6 Sol by 21.283.662.4+21.2
ReasoningGPT-5.6 Sol
- CritPtGPT-5.6 Sol by 31.432.30.9+31.4
- Humanity's Last ExamGPT-5.6 Sol by 28.549.521+28.5
- GPQA DiamondGPT-5.6 Sol by 9.694.184.5+9.6
FactsQwen3.5 35B A3B
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyGPT-5.6 Sol by 39.359.420.1+39.3
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationQwen3.5 35B A3B by 6.87.814.6+6.8
- Vectara HHEM hallucination ratelower is betterQwen3.5 35B A3B by 1.912.410.5+1.9
Images and chartsGPT-5.6 Sol
- MMMU-ProGPT-5.6 Sol by 10.783.472.7+10.7
- CharXiv (RQ)GPT-5.6 Sol by 8.385.877.5+8.3
Other results10 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- AA-OmniscienceGPT-5.6 Sol by 70.122-48.1+70.1
- BabyVisionGPT-5.6 Sol by 50.588.938.4+50.5
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexGPT-5.6 Sol by 40.477.437+40.4
- AA Agentic IndexGPT-5.6 Sol by 38.750.511.8+38.7
- AA IntelligenceGPT-5.6 Sol by 27.74719.3+27.7
- LVBenchGPT-5.6 Sol by 10.782.171.4+10.7
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Qwen3.5 35B A3B by 4.185.189.2+4.1
- vectara_avg_summary_lengthGPT-5.6 Sol by 36.2 rating points131.194.9+36.2 rating
- vectara_factual_consistencyQwen3.5 35B A3B by 1.987.689.5+1.9
- vectara_answer_ratetie99.199.8tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, GPT-5.6 Sol or Qwen3.5 35B A3B?
GPT-5.6 Sol wins six of the eight areas we test: coding, agents, reasoning, images and charts, math and long documents. Qwen3.5 35B A3B wins facts, and costs 91% less. They are level on following instructions.
Which is better for coding?
GPT-5.6 Sol. It wins 5 of the 5 coding tests both models report; Qwen3.5 35B A3B wins none.
Which is cheaper?
GPT-5.6 Sol costs $4.00 per million input tokens and $20.00 per million output tokens; Qwen3.5 35B A3B costs $0.25 and $2.00. That makes Qwen3.5 35B A3B about 91% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 32 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 22 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 10 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.