AI model comparison

Qwen3.6 Flash vs o4-mini

Compare pricing, context limits, supported inputs and deployment options to choose a model for your workflow.

Qwen3.6 Flash from Alibaba lists 1M context, 65.54K maximum output, $0.1875 input per 1M tokens, $1.125 output per 1M tokens. o4-mini from OpenAI lists 200K context, 100K maximum output, $1.10 input per 1M tokens, $4.40 output per 1M tokens. Compare the inputs, outputs and deployment options below to see which fits your workflow.

Side-by-sideCapabilities and practical differences

Alibaba

Qwen3.6 Flash

Qwen3.6 Flash from Alibaba: Qwen vision-language model for visual reasoning, documents, and agent tasks.

Context
1M
Max output
65.54K
Input / 1M tokens
$0.1875
Output / 1M tokens
$1.125

Accepts

  • Text input
  • Image input
  • Video input

Produces

  • Text output
VS

OpenAI

o4-mini

o4-mini from OpenAI: Fast o-series model for compact reasoning, coding, and tool use.

Context
200K
Max output
100K
Input / 1M tokens
$1.10
Output / 1M tokens
$4.40

Accepts

  • Text input
  • Image input

Produces

  • Text output

At a glance

Key differences

Compare the available figures below, then try both models on the work you need to do.

Qwen3.6 Flash

  • Context capacity: 1M
  • Input price: $0.1875
  • Output price: $1.125

o4-mini

  • Maximum output: 100K

Context capacity

Higher listed limit

Qwen3.6 Flash:1M

o4-mini:200K

Qwen3.6 Flash

Maximum output

Higher listed limit

Qwen3.6 Flash:65.54K

o4-mini:100K

o4-mini

Input price

Lower listed token rate

Qwen3.6 Flash:$0.1875

o4-mini:$1.10

Qwen3.6 Flash

Output price

Lower listed token rate

Qwen3.6 Flash:$1.125

o4-mini:$4.40

Qwen3.6 Flash

Specifications

Pricing, limits and capabilities

Specifications for Qwen3.6 Flash and o4-mini. Higher limits and lower prices describe these figures only.
SpecificationQwen3.6 Flasho4-mini
ProviderAlibabaOpenAI
Listed pricing routeAlibabaOpenAI
Model familyqwen3.6o-mini
Accepted inputstext, image, videotext, image
Produced outputstexttext
Context window1MHigher200K
Max output65.54K100KHigher
Input price / 1M$0.1875Lower$1.10
Output price / 1M$1.125Lower$4.40
Reasoning modeDocumentedDocumented
Tool callingDocumentedDocumented
Image inputDocumentedDocumented
Audio inputNot documentedNot documented
Structured outputDocumentedDocumented
LicenseProprietaryProprietary

Workload guidance

Which model should you choose?

Consider Qwen3.6 Flash if you need larger context or a lower listed input rate or a lower listed output rate. Consider o4-mini if you need larger maximum output. Test both on the same representative examples and judge the output against your acceptance criteria. Include tool failures, retries and the time to a completed task.

Documentation and model profiles

Explore each model’s features, API requirements and licence terms in the sources below.

Questions people ask

It brings together documented inputs and outputs, token limits, deployment terms and available pricing. When both models have source-linked, verified results on a shared benchmark, those results are shown with their individual sources. The comparison is a starting point for evaluating your own workload.

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