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GPT-4o vs Qwen 2.5 72B

Pricing, context window, and benchmark comparison · Last updated April 2026

Quick Verdict

Qwen 2.5 72B is cheaper than GPT-4o at $0.35/1M/1M vs $2.50/1M/1M input tokens — a 7.1x cost difference. GPT-4o scores higher on quality benchmarks (ELO 1286). Choose Qwen 2.5 72B for cost-sensitive workloads; choose GPT-4o for maximum quality.

Detailed Comparison

MetricGPT-4oQwen 2.5 72B
Input Price / 1M tokens$2.50/1M$0.35/1MCheaper
Output Price / 1M tokens$10.00/1M$0.40/1MCheaper
Context Window128K131KLarger
ELO Score (LMSYS)1286Smarter1280
Open SourceYes
Free Tier
Release Date2024-052024-09

Which is cheaper: GPT-4o or Qwen 2.5 72B?

Qwen 2.5 72B is the cheaper option at $0.35/1M per 1M input tokens, compared to $2.50/1M for GPT-4o. That is a 7.1x cost difference on input tokens. Output pricing follows a similar pattern: GPT-4o charges $10.00/1M/1M vs $0.40/1M/1M for Qwen 2.5 72B.

Which has better quality: GPT-4o or Qwen 2.5 72B?

Based on LMSYS Chatbot Arena rankings, GPT-4o achieves a higher ELO score (1286 vs 1280), suggesting stronger performance on open-ended tasks. GPT-4o excels at multimodal: handles text, images, and audio natively. Qwen 2.5 72B is known for best-in-class for chinese/japanese/korean languages.

Which should you choose: GPT-4o or Qwen 2.5 72B?

Choose GPT-4o if:
  • Multimodal: handles text, images, and audio natively
  • Strong reasoning and instruction following
  • Excellent coding capabilities
Choose Qwen 2.5 72B if:
  • Best-in-class for Chinese/Japanese/Korean languages
  • Open source weights available
  • Strong coding performance for cost

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper: GPT-4o or Qwen 2.5 72B?

Qwen 2.5 72B is cheaper at $0.35/1M per 1M input tokens, making it 7.1x more affordable.

Which has better quality: GPT-4o or Qwen 2.5 72B?

GPT-4o scores higher on the LMSYS Chatbot Arena with an ELO of 1286, suggesting better overall quality for most tasks.

Which has a larger context window: GPT-4o or Qwen 2.5 72B?

Qwen 2.5 72B has a larger context window at 131K tokens.

Should I choose GPT-4o or Qwen 2.5 72B?

Choose Qwen 2.5 72B if cost is the priority. Choose GPT-4o if benchmark quality is most important. Consider your specific use case: GPT-4o is best for coding and image-understanding, while Qwen 2.5 72B excels at translation and coding.

Is GPT-4o or Qwen 2.5 72B open source?

GPT-4o is proprietary. Qwen 2.5 72B is open source.

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