GPT-5.6 Sol vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B
Wins 7 of 8 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Facts · Images and charts · Math · Long documents
Wins 1 of 8 areas
Following instructions
GPT-5.6 Sol is the stronger all-rounder.Qwen3.5 397B A17B is cheaper and better at following instructions.
Scores updated · 35 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 math20GPT-5.6 Sol2 of 2 tests
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up21GPT-5.6 Sol2 of 3 tests
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10GPT-5.6 Sol1 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked01Qwen3.5 397B A17B1 of 1 test
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 397B A17B costs 83% 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
- Unpublished advanced math problemsFrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)+57.9points ahead
- Short factual questions, answered correctlySimpleQA Verified+43.7points ahead
- Real work tasks from 44 professionsGDPVal+40.8points ahead
Where Qwen3.5 397B A17B pulls ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+6.1points ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+3.3points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 35 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 36.78851.3+36.7
- Terminal-Bench HardGPT-5.6 Sol by 2565.940.9+25
- LMArena · WebDevGPT-5.6 Sol by 218 rating points16181400+218 rating
- SWE-bench ProGPT-5.6 Sol by 13.764.650.9+13.7
- SciCodeGPT-5.6 Sol by 12.357.144.8+12.3
AgentsGPT-5.6 Sol
- GDPValGPT-5.6 Sol by 40.855.614.8+40.8
- Terminal-Bench 4.0GPT-5.6 Sol by 39.939.90+39.9
- τ-Bench V3 · BankingGPT-5.6 Sol by 30.944.313.4+30.9
- AA ApexAgentsGPT-5.6 Sol by 24.639.915.3+24.6
- AA IT-Bench SREGPT-5.6 Sol by 22.156.234.1+22.1
- BrowseCompGPT-5.6 Sol by 21.490.469+21.4
ReasoningGPT-5.6 Sol
- CritPtGPT-5.6 Sol by 30.632.31.7+30.6
- Humanity's Last ExamGPT-5.6 Sol by 20.549.529+20.5
- GPQA DiamondGPT-5.6 Sol by 4.894.189.3+4.8
FactsGPT-5.6 Sol
- SimpleQA VerifiedGPT-5.6 Sol by 43.769.726+43.7
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyGPT-5.6 Sol by 28.659.430.8+28.6
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationQwen3.5 397B A17B by 3.37.811.1+3.3
Images and chartsGPT-5.6 Sol
- MMMU-ProGPT-5.6 Sol by 6.183.477.3+6.1
- LMArena · VisionGPT-5.6 Sol by 15 rating points12791264+15 rating
MathGPT-5.6 Sol
- FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)GPT-5.6 Sol by 57.989.131.2+57.9
- AIME 2026GPT-5.6 Sol by 8.699.991.3+8.6
Following instructionsQwen3.5 397B A17B
- IFBenchQwen3.5 397B A17B by 6.172.778.8+6.1
Other results12 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.
- GDPval-AA v2GPT-5.6 Sol by 749 rating points1711962+749 rating
- AA-OmniscienceGPT-5.6 Sol by 52.722-30.8+52.7
- AA Agentic IndexGPT-5.6 Sol by 39.950.510.6+39.9
- Toolathlon VerifiedGPT-5.6 Sol by 34.274.940.7+34.2
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexGPT-5.6 Sol by 29.277.448.2+29.2
- AA IntelligenceGPT-5.6 Sol by 28.64718.4+28.6
- ToolathlonGPT-5.6 Sol by 19.75838.3+19.7
- τ³-Bench BankingGPT-5.6 Sol by 19.63313.4+19.6
- HLE (with tools)GPT-5.6 Sol by 16.264.548.3+16.2
- SWEBench Pro PublicGPT-5.6 Sol by 13.764.650.9+13.7
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Qwen3.5 397B A17B by 10.585.195.6+10.5
- StrongREJECTtie98.599.4tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, GPT-5.6 Sol or Qwen3.5 397B A17B?
GPT-5.6 Sol wins seven of the eight areas we test: coding, agents, reasoning, facts, images and charts, math and long documents. Qwen3.5 397B A17B wins following instructions, and costs 83% less.
Which is better for coding?
GPT-5.6 Sol. It wins 5 of the 5 coding tests both models report; Qwen3.5 397B A17B 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 397B A17B costs $0.60 and $3.60. That makes Qwen3.5 397B A17B about 83% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 35 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 23 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 12 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.