GPT-5 vs Qwen3.5 27B
Wins 3 of 8 areas
Coding · Reasoning · Images and charts
Wins 2 of 8 areas
Agents · Math
GPT-5 wins more areas, narrowly.Qwen3.5 27B is cheaper and better at agents.
Scores updated · 40 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.
- CodingWriting and fixing software42GPT-54 of 7 tests · 1 tie
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking20GPT-52 of 3 tests · 1 tie
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video21GPT-52 of 4 tests · 1 tie
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own02Qwen3.5 27B2 of 2 tests
- MathCompetition and research-level math01Qwen3.5 27B1 of 1 test
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up11Even1 each · 1 tie
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts00Even0 each · 1 tie
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked11Even1 each
Math and long documents 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 27B costs 76% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The three tests each model wins by the widest margin. Scores are out of 100.
Where GPT-5 pulls ahead
- Answers hard knowledge questions correctlyAA-Omniscience · Accuracy+19.6points ahead
- Keeps track of context across a multi-turn chatMulti-Challenge+8.8points ahead
- Recent programming contest problemsLiveCodeBench v6+6.3points ahead
Where Qwen3.5 27B pulls ahead
- Fixes real GitHub issues in many programming languagesSWE-bench Multilingual+14points ahead
- Real work tasks from 44 professionsGDPVal+12points ahead
- Long, multi-file coding tasks in real codebasesSWE-bench Pro+9.4points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 40 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingGPT-5
- SWE-bench MultilingualQwen3.5 27B by 1455.369.3+14
- SWE-bench ProQwen3.5 27B by 9.441.851.2+9.4
- LiveCodeBench v6GPT-5 by 6.38780.7+6.3
- LMArena · WebDevGPT-5 by 61 rating points14181357+61 rating
- SciCodeGPT-5 by 3.442.939.5+3.4
- SWE-bench VerifiedGPT-5 by 2.574.972.4+2.5
- Terminal-Bench Hardtie32.632.6tie
AgentsQwen3.5 27B
- GDPValQwen3.5 27B by 122133+12
- BrowseCompQwen3.5 27B by 6.154.961+6.1
ReasoningGPT-5
- CritPtGPT-5 by 4.85.70.9+4.8
- Humanity's Last ExamGPT-5 by 4.628.523.9+4.6
- GPQA Diamondtie85.485.8tie
FactsEven
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyGPT-5 by 19.640.320.7+19.6
- Vectara HHEM hallucination ratelower is betterQwen3.5 27B by 315.112.1+3
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationtie17.818.5tie
Images and chartsGPT-5
- LMArena · VisionQwen3.5 27B by 32 rating points12081240+32 rating
- MMMUGPT-5 by 1.984.282.3+1.9
- CharXiv (RQ)GPT-5 by 1.681.179.5+1.6
- MMMU-Protie74.275tie
Following instructionsEven
- Multi-ChallengeGPT-5 by 8.869.660.8+8.8
- IFBenchQwen3.5 27B by 2.573.175.6+2.5
Other results17 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 by 35.3-8.7-44+35.3
- AA Agentic IndexQwen3.5 27B by 28.126.554.6+28.1
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Qwen3.5 27B by 9.184.893.9+9.1
- vectara_avg_summary_lengthGPT-5 by 68.3 rating points162.794.4+68.3 rating
- Terminal-Bench 2.0Qwen3.5 27B by 6.435.241.6+6.4
- ERQAGPT-5 by 5.265.760.5+5.2
- HMMT Feb. 2025Qwen3.5 27B by 3.788.392+3.7
- HMMT 2025GPT-5 by 3.593.389.8+3.5
- vectara_factual_consistencyQwen3.5 27B by 384.987.9+3
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexGPT-5 by 2.937.834.9+2.9
- VideoMMMUGPT-5 by 2.384.682.3+2.3
- MMLU-ReduxGPT-5 by 2.195.393.2+2.1
- MMLU-ProGPT-5 by 187.186.1+1
- BrowseComp-ZHtie6362.1tie
- HMMT Nov. 2025tie89.289.8tie
- AA Intelligencetie2322.9tie
- vectara_answer_ratetie99.999.8tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, GPT-5 or Qwen3.5 27B?
GPT-5 wins three of the eight areas we test: coding, reasoning and images and charts. Qwen3.5 27B wins agents and math, and costs 76% less. They are level on facts, long documents and following instructions.
Which is better for coding?
GPT-5. It wins 4 of the 7 coding tests both models report; Qwen3.5 27B wins 2, and 1 is a tie.
Which is cheaper?
GPT-5 costs $1.25 per million input tokens and $10.00 per million output tokens; Qwen3.5 27B costs $0.30 and $2.40. That makes Qwen3.5 27B about 76% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 40 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 17 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.