Instruction following
Like-for-like- GPT-4.1 mini
- 88.5
- Qwen3.5-27B
- 95.0
- Weighted basis
- 1 vs 1 rows
- Reading
- Qwen3.5-27B leads
GPT-4.1 mini vs Qwen3.5-27B
Updated August 13, 2026. Public scores include evidence status and uncertainty. They are not guarantees for a specific workload.
Decision reading
Qwen3.5-27B has the higher public score estimate, 59.64 versus 43.4, but the 90% score intervals overlap. Treat that as a lead, not a settled winner.
3 results are shared. Category rows based on different benchmark sets are marked directional and do not name a winner.
Which one for your work
Recommendations appear only when a shared evidence basis or an explicit operating constraint supports the call. Secondary and unsupported use cases stay disclosed below the initial list.
Long documents
Prompts that approach the documented context limit
GPT-4.1 mini
GPT-4.1 mini has the larger documented context window.
Confidence: documented
Show secondary and unsupported calls
Coding work
Code generation, repair, and software-engineering tasks
Not enough matched evidence
The category averages use different weighted benchmark sets, so they are directional rather than like-for-like.
Confidence: limited
Agentic work
Tool use, computer use, and multi-step task completion
Not enough matched evidence
No shared weighted benchmark basis supports a winner.
Confidence: limited
Chat turn cost
1K fresh input + 500 output tokens
Not enough matched evidence
A complete comparable API-rate estimate is not available for both models.
Confidence: listed-rates
Cache-heavy agent loop cost
200K cached + 20K fresh input + 10K output tokens
Not enough matched evidence
A complete comparable API-rate estimate is not available for both models.
Confidence: rate-fallback
Repository review cost
50K fresh input + 3K output tokens
Not enough matched evidence
A complete comparable API-rate estimate is not available for both models.
Confidence: listed-rates
What is actually comparable
Shared results can support a head-to-head reading. Results present for only one model describe coverage, not superiority.
2 GPT-4.1 mini only
3 Shared
13 Qwen3.5-27B only
- Shared results
- 3
- GPT-4.1 mini only
- 2
- Qwen3.5-27B only
- 13
- Like-for-like categories
- 1 / 8
2 categories use different evidence sets. Those rows remain visible for coverage context but do not name a winner.
Category results, on a stated basis
Each row states whether both averages use the same weighted benchmark set. Directional and not-comparable rows remain visible, but they never receive a winner in this template.
Coding
Directional only- GPT-4.1 mini
- 23.6
- Qwen3.5-27B
- 64.9
- Weighted basis
- 1 vs 2 rows
- Reading
- Directional only
Knowledge
Directional only- GPT-4.1 mini
- 64.2
- Qwen3.5-27B
- 82.7
- Weighted basis
- 1 vs 3 rows
- Reading
- Directional only
Agentic
Not comparable- GPT-4.1 mini
- Not measured
- Qwen3.5-27B
- 52.0
- Weighted basis
- 0 vs 3 rows
- Reading
- Not comparable
Reasoning
Not comparable- GPT-4.1 mini
- Not measured
- Qwen3.5-27B
- 60.6
- Weighted basis
- 0 vs 1 rows
- Reading
- Not comparable
Math
Not comparable- GPT-4.1 mini
- 4.5
- Qwen3.5-27B
- Not measured
- Weighted basis
- 1 vs 0 rows
- Reading
- Not comparable
Multilingual
Not comparable- GPT-4.1 mini
- Not measured
- Qwen3.5-27B
- 82.2
- Weighted basis
- 0 vs 1 rows
- Reading
- Not comparable
Multimodal
Not comparable- GPT-4.1 mini
- Not measured
- Qwen3.5-27B
- Not measured
- Weighted basis
- 0 vs 0 rows
- Reading
- Not comparable
| Category | GPT-4.1 mini | Qwen3.5-27B | Weighted basis | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instruction following | 88.5 | 95.0 | Like-for-like1 vs 1 rows | Qwen3.5-27B leads |
| Coding | 23.6 | 64.9 | Directional only1 vs 2 rows | Directional only |
| Knowledge | 64.2 | 82.7 | Directional only1 vs 3 rows | Directional only |
| Agentic | Not measured | 52.0 | Not comparable0 vs 3 rows | Not comparable |
| Reasoning | Not measured | 60.6 | Not comparable0 vs 1 rows | Not comparable |
| Math | 4.5 | Not measured | Not comparable1 vs 0 rows | Not comparable |
| Multilingual | Not measured | 82.2 | Not comparable0 vs 1 rows | Not comparable |
| Multimodal | Not measured | Not measured | Not comparable0 vs 0 rows | Not comparable |
Shape of the matched evidence
Only shared public evidence is shown. Sparse evidence stays a ruled list rather than being closed into a radar shape.
Too few matched category axes support a radar. The ruled list below shows only shared benchmark results; positions use each benchmark’s normalized display scale when available.
SWE-bench Verified
Coding
GPQA
Knowledge
IFEval
Instruction following
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes turn per-token rates into comparable decisions. Each scenario states context fit and whether cached input had to fall back to the published list-input rate.
Chat turn
1K fresh input + 500 output tokens
- GPT-4.1 mini
- $0.0012
- Fits in one request
- Qwen3.5-27B
- Self-hosted; infrastructure cost varies
- Fits in one request
Qwen3.5-27B has no comparable published API token rate.
Repository review
50K fresh input + 3K output tokens
- GPT-4.1 mini
- $0.0248
- Fits in one request
- Qwen3.5-27B
- Self-hosted; infrastructure cost varies
- Fits in one request
Qwen3.5-27B has no comparable published API token rate.
Cache-heavy agent loop
200K cached + 20K fresh input + 10K output tokens
- GPT-4.1 mini
- $0.104
- Fits in one request
- Cached input priced at the published list-input rate
- Qwen3.5-27B
- Self-hosted; infrastructure cost varies
- Fits in one request
- Cached-input rate unavailable
GPT-4.1 mini has no published cached-input rate, so cached tokens use its listed input rate. Qwen3.5-27B has no comparable published API token rate.
Specification differences
Sourced differences are shown directly. Missing facts stay explicit instead of being inferred from a model name or family.
SpecificationGPT-4.1 miniQwen3.5-27B
Context window
Maximum documented context; output-token limits may be lower.
GPT-4.1 mini
1M
Qwen3.5-27B
262K
API model ID
GPT-4.1 mini
Not sourced
Qwen3.5-27B
Not sourced
Cached-input rate
A missing cached-input rate falls back to the listed input rate only in the stated workload estimate.
GPT-4.1 mini
Not published
Qwen3.5-27B
No comparable hosted API rate
Documented inputs
GPT-4.1 mini
Not sourced
Qwen3.5-27B
Not sourced
Documented outputs
GPT-4.1 mini
Not sourced
Qwen3.5-27B
Not sourced
Provider availability
GPT-4.1 mini
Not sourced
Qwen3.5-27B
Not sourced
Reasoning profile
GPT-4.1 mini
Non-Reasoning
Qwen3.5-27B
Reasoning
Weight access
GPT-4.1 mini
Proprietary
Qwen3.5-27B
Open Weight
License
GPT-4.1 mini
Proprietary
Qwen3.5-27B
Open Weight
Release date
GPT-4.1 mini
2025-04-14
Qwen3.5-27B
2026-03-04
If you already use one of these models
- Deployment change
- The models list different providers, so authentication, endpoint behavior, limits, and feature support may change.
- Quality signal
- Qwen3.5-27B has the higher public score estimate, 59.64 versus 43.4, but the 90% score intervals overlap.
- Workload cost
- A complete comparable API-rate estimate is not available for both models.
- Context tradeoff
- GPT-4.1 mini has the larger documented window (1M).
Run the same representative tasks against both endpoints before changing production traffic.
Benchmark evidence
The full public result ledger is available for audit without forcing a wide desktop table onto a phone.
Browse raw public benchmark evidence18 rows
Agentic
Coding
Reasoning
LongBench v2
GPT-4.1 mini—Qwen3.5-27B60.6%SourceNot directly comparable
Knowledge
Math
FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)
GPT-4.1 mini4.483%SourceQwen3.5-27B—Not directly comparable
Multilingual
MMLU-ProX
GPT-4.1 mini—Qwen3.5-27B82.2%SourceNot directly comparable
Multimodal
Instruction following
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, GPT-4.1 mini or Qwen3.5-27B?
Qwen3.5-27B has the higher public score estimate, 59.64 versus 43.4, but the 90% score intervals overlap. The higher estimate is not a decisive winner because the uncertainty ranges overlap.
Which is better for coding, GPT-4.1 mini or Qwen3.5-27B?
The current coding averages use different weighted benchmark sets, so BenchLM does not name a winner from them. Read the shared benchmark rows directly and test the models on the same task set.
Which is better for agentic tasks, GPT-4.1 mini or Qwen3.5-27B?
The published evidence does not provide a shared weighted agentic tasks basis for both models, so BenchLM does not name a agentic tasks winner.
Which costs less, GPT-4.1 mini or Qwen3.5-27B?
Both models do not have comparable published API token rates, so this page does not name a universal price winner.
Which has the larger context window, GPT-4.1 mini or Qwen3.5-27B?
GPT-4.1 mini has the larger documented context window: 1M, compared with 262K.
Related comparisons
Last updated August 13, 2026
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