GPT-5 vs Sarvam 30B
Wins 6 of 6 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Facts · Long documents · Following instructions
Wins 0 of 6 areas
—
GPT-5 is the stronger all-rounder.Sarvam 30B is cheaper.
Scores updated · 22 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the six areas where both have results. 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 software40GPT-54 of 4 tests
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking30GPT-53 of 3 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own20GPT-52 of 2 tests
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up20GPT-52 of 2 tests
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10GPT-51 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked10GPT-51 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.
Sarvam 30B costs 99% 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 pulls ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+46.6points ahead
- Fixes real GitHub issues in Python projectsSWE-bench Verified+40.9points ahead
- Hard command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench Hard+30.3points ahead
Where Sarvam 30B pulls ahead
No clear win on a test scored out of 100.
Every test, side by side
All 22 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingGPT-5
- SWE-bench VerifiedGPT-5 by 40.974.934+40.9
- Terminal-Bench HardGPT-5 by 30.332.62.3+30.3
- SciCodeGPT-5 by 23.742.919.2+23.7
- LiveCodeBench v6GPT-5 by 178770+17
ReasoningGPT-5
- GPQA DiamondGPT-5 by 22.185.463.3+22.1
- Humanity's Last ExamGPT-5 by 2128.57.5+21
- CritPtGPT-5 by 5.45.70.3+5.4
FactsGPT-5
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyGPT-5 by 27.740.312.6+27.7
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationGPT-5 by 14.117.83.7+14.1
Other results9 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 62.8-8.7-71.5+62.8
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)GPT-5 by 50.384.834.5+50.3
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexGPT-5 by 29.937.87.9+29.9
- HMMT 2025GPT-5 by 19.193.374.2+19.1
- AA IntelligenceGPT-5 by 16.4236.6+16.4
- AA Agentic IndexGPT-5 by 1526.511.5+15
- MMLU-ProGPT-5 by 7.187.180+7.1
- AIME 2025Sarvam 30B by 2.194.696.7+2.1
- HumanEvalGPT-5 by 1.393.492.1+1.3
Questions people ask
Which is better, GPT-5 or Sarvam 30B?
GPT-5 wins all six areas where both have results: coding, agents, reasoning, facts, long documents and following instructions. Sarvam 30B wins none, but costs 99% less.
Which is better for coding?
GPT-5. It wins 4 of the 4 coding tests both models report; Sarvam 30B wins none.
Which is cheaper?
GPT-5 costs $1.25 per million input tokens and $10.00 per million output tokens; Sarvam 30B costs $0.03 and $0.11. That makes Sarvam 30B about 99% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 22 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 13 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 9 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.