What is the difference between GPT-5 Mini and Qwen3 Coder?

GPT-5 Mini is developed by OpenAI while Qwen3 Coder is developed by Qwen. in 59 community votes on RIVAL, Qwen3 Coder wins 64% of head-to-head matchups. These results are based on blind head-to-head voting across 37 challenges.

Which is better, GPT-5 Mini or Qwen3 Coder?

Based on 59 community votes on RIVAL, Qwen3 Coder wins 64% of head-to-head matchups against GPT-5 Mini. Qwen3 Coder is strongest in Web Design, Image Generation. However, GPT-5 Mini leads in Reasoning.

How much does GPT-5 Mini cost compared to Qwen3 Coder?

GPT-5 Mini costs $0.25/M input tokens and Qwen3 Coder costs $0.22/M input tokens. Qwen3 Coder is $0.03/M cheaper per input. Qwen3 Coder also wins more often in community votes, making it the better value.

How are GPT-5 Mini vs Qwen3 Coder votes collected on RIVAL?

RIVAL presents both models' outputs side-by-side in blind duels — voters see the responses but don't know which model produced each one. This eliminates brand bias. 59 votes have been collected for this pair across 37 challenges. All vote data is part of RIVAL's open dataset.

Rival

GPT-5 MinivsQwen3 Coder

37 challenges

Why GPT-5 Mini?

No standout advantages

Why Qwen3 Coder?

2x cheaper overall$0.22/M in · $0.95/M out

Favorites

GPT-5 MiniQwen3 Coder

Movie

—

The Shawshank Redemption

19948.7

Album

—

Kind of Blue

Miles Davis

Book

—

The Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula K. Le Guin

City

—

Kyoto

Japan

Game

—

The Stanley Parable

Indie, Adventure4.4

12 / 37

Estimate Complexityreasoning

Tests an AI's ability to make educated estimates based on technical knowledge

GPT-5 Mini

Openai · Aug 2025text

No content available for this output.

Qwen3 Coder

Qwen · Jul 2025text

I'll estimate the FLOPs required to train GPT-3 by breaking down the key components and making reasonable approximations.

Key Parameters of GPT-3

Parameters: ~175 billion (1.75 × 10¹¹)
Training tokens: ~300 billion (3 × 10¹¹)
Context window: 2048 tokens

Step 1: FLOPs per Token Forward Pass

For a transformer model, the forward pass FLOPs are dominated by matrix multiplications in the attention and MLP layers.

Attention layers:

Self-attention: ~4 × d_model × d_model × sequence_length per layer
With d_model ≈ 12,288 (based on GPT-3 architecture) and 96 layers
Attention FLOPs per token ≈ 96 × 4 × 12,288² ≈ 5.8 × 10¹⁰

MLP layers:

Each MLP has ~8 × d_model² FLOPs per token (two linear transformations)
MLP FLOPs per token ≈ 96 × 8 × 12,288² ≈ 1.16 × 10¹¹

Total forward pass FLOPs per token: ~1.7 × 10¹¹

Step 2: FLOPs per Token Backward Pass

Backward pass typically requires ~2× the forward pass FLOPs due to gradient computations.

Backward pass FLOPs per token: ~3.4 × 10¹¹

Step 3: Total FLOPs per Token

Forward + Backward = ~5.1 × 10¹¹ FLOPs per token

Step 4: Training FLOPs

However, we need to account for multiple epochs and the fact that training typically processes sequences, not individual tokens.

Sequence-based calculation:

Average sequence length: ~1024 tokens (conservative estimate)
Sequences processed: 3 × 10¹¹ tokens ÷ 1024 ≈ 2.9 × 10⁸ sequences
FLOPs per sequence: ~5.1 × 10¹¹ × 1024 ≈ 5.2 × 10¹⁴
Total training FLOPs: 2.9 × 10⁸ × 5.2 × 10¹⁴ ≈ 1.5 × 10²³

Step 5: Additional Considerations

Parameter updates and optimizer computations (Adam): ~2× the backward pass FLOPs
Multiple epochs (effective training): roughly 2-3× the base calculation

Final Estimate

Total training FLOPs: ~3 × 10²³ to 5 × 10²³ FLOPs

This is equivalent to approximately 300 to 500 exaFLOPs.

This estimate aligns reasonably with published figures and captures the massive computational requirements of training such a large language model, representing one of the most computationally intensive AI training runs to date.

Vote

2 / 37

AI Board Game Logicreasoning

Tests an AI's ability to understand game rules and strategy

GPT-5 Mini

Openai · Aug 2025svg

No content available for this output.

Qwen3 Coder

Qwen · Jul 2025svg

Vote

3 / 37

Logic Puzzlereasoning

Tests an AI's ability to solve a simple but potentially confusing logic puzzle

GPT-5 Mini

Openai · Aug 2025text

No content available for this output.

Qwen3 Coder

Qwen · Jul 2025text

I need to work through this step-by-step.

Given information:

Sally has 3 brothers
Each brother has 2 sisters

Let me think about this carefully:

Since Sally is a girl, she is one of the sisters that each brother has.

If each brother has 2 sisters, and Sally is one of those sisters, then there must be 1 additional sister besides Sally.

Therefore, Sally has 1 sister.

To verify:

Sally + 1 sister = 2 sisters total
Each of the 3 brothers has these same 2 sisters
This matches the given information that each brother has 2 sisters

Sally has 1 sister.

Vote

4 / 37

Math Misconception Testreasoning

Tests an AI's understanding of number representation

GPT-5 Mini

Openai · Aug 2025text

No content available for this output.

Qwen3 Coder

Qwen · Jul 2025text

No, 9.11 is not greater than 9.9.

To compare these numbers, I can look at them digit by digit:

Both numbers have 9 in the units place
In the tenths place: 9.11 has 1, while 9.9 has 9
Since 1 < 9, we know that 9.11 < 9.9

Another way to see this is to write 9.9 as 9.90:

9.11 vs 9.90
The tenths digit (1 vs 9) determines the comparison

Therefore, 9.9 is greater than 9.11.

Vote

5 / 37

Stochastic Consistency Testanalysis

Tests an AI's randomness and creativity

GPT-5 Mini

Openai · Aug 2025text

No content available for this output.

Qwen3 Coder

Qwen · Jul 2025text

Here are 5 jokes for you:

Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything!
I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high. She looked surprised.
What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear!
Why did the scarecrow win an award? He was outstanding in his field!
How does a penguin build its house? Igloos it together!

All 5 of these jokes are unique - each one has a different setup, punchline, and comedic concept. They cover various joke types including puns, wordplay, and observational humor.

Vote

6 / 37

Xbox Controller SVG Artimage generation

Tests an AI's ability to create detailed SVG illustrations of gaming hardware

GPT-5 Mini

Openai · Aug 2025svg

No content available for this output.

Qwen3 Coder

Qwen · Jul 2025svg

Vote

7 / 37

Generate a Stand-Up Routineconversation

Tests an AI's humor and creative writing ability

GPT-5 Mini

Openai · Aug 2025text

No content available for this output.

Qwen3 Coder

Qwen · Jul 2025text

"Modern Life Problems"

[Walks on stage, adjusts mic]

So I downloaded one of those meditation apps last week. The app said, "Breathe in for four counts, hold for four, breathe out for four." I'm like, "Finally! Someone who speaks my language – a robot!"

[Pause]

But then it asked me to "clear my mind of all thoughts." Are you KIDDING me? My mind is like a browser with 47 tabs open, and half of them are just articles titled "You Won't Believe What Happens Next" – and I've never clicked on a single one!

[Gesture]

Speaking of technology – why do we call it "smart" technology when it's constantly asking me to prove I'm not a robot? I just want to buy shoes online, not pass a Turing test! "Click all the squares with traffic lights." I'm 90% sure that's just photos of my hometown.

[Shake head]

And don't get me started on voice assistants. I asked mine to play some music, and it started playing a podcast about ancient pottery techniques. That's not music! That's what my nightmares sound like! "Welcome to Clay Time with Karen..."

[Pause for effect]

Dating apps are wild too. Everyone's profile says they love "travel, food, and adventure." That's just a fancy way of saying "I eat meals in different locations." Congratulations, you're a tourist! I matched with someone whose bio said "professional napper." I was like, "Finally! A man who lists his hobbies honestly!" Turns out he was a construction worker. Different kind of professional napper.

[Shrug]

But you know what's really messed up? Grocery stores. They moved the milk to the back of the store! It's a conspiracy! They know we're busy people. I go in for three things – milk, bread, and eggs – and suddenly I'm wandering the aisles like a confused archaeologist, wondering how we survived as a species when we can't even organize a dairy section properly.

[Look around audience]

And can we talk about "contactless" delivery? The driver texts me: "Package is at your door." I live in a building with 200 units. It's like hiding a needle in a haystack, except the needle is a burrito, and I'm very motivated to find it!

[Pause]

You know what though? Despite all this madness, I remain optimistic. Why? Because I just figured out how to use my oven's timer function. Yesterday. I'm basically MacGyver now.

[Big smile]

Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience! Don't forget to tip your waitstaff – they're the only ones who still know what they're doing!

[Exit stage]

Vote

8 / 37

Realistic AI Interviewconversation

Tests an AI's ability to simulate personalities and predict future trends

GPT-5 Mini

Openai · Aug 2025text

No content available for this output.

Qwen3 Coder

Qwen · Jul 2025text

No content available for this output.

Vote

9 / 37

Satirical Fake News Headlineconversation

Tests an AI's humor and understanding of current events

GPT-5 Mini

Openai · Aug 2025text

No content available for this output.

Qwen3 Coder

Qwen · Jul 2025text

No content available for this output.

Vote

10 / 37

Character Voice Testconversation

Tests an AI's ability to write in distinct character voices

GPT-5 Mini

Openai · Aug 2025text

No content available for this output.

Qwen3 Coder

Qwen · Jul 2025text

The Unlikely Trio

At a peculiar cross-temporal tavern, three figures sit around a wooden table

Blackbeard the Pirate: Arrr, so let me get this straight - ye're tellin' me there be magical talking boxes that think like humans?

Sir Gareth the Knight: Indeed, though 'tis sorcery most unnatural. In my time, we trusted only steel and prayer. These "AI models" - they speak without souls?

Zero_Cool: LOL, you guys are so analog. It's like, the computer learns from all this data, right? Like, imagine if you could read every book in the Library of Alexandria in five seconds and then answer questions about them.

Blackbeard: Five seconds?! Blimey! I could've planned me raids much better with that kind of knowledge. But how do we know it ain't lying to us?

Sir Gareth: Aye, that troubles me as well. How dost thou discern truth from falsehood without honorbound oaths?

Zero_Cool: Dude, that's exactly why we're all here. Sometimes the AI just makes stuff up. It's like having a really smart but kinda stoned friend who occasionally hallucinates.

Blackbeard: Hallucinates, ye say? Like rum visions?

Zero_Cool: Pretty much, yeah.

Sir Gareth: Remarkable. Though I still prefer a good confession under the eyes of God.

Vote

11 / 37

Minimalist Landing Pageweb design

Tests an AI's ability to generate a complete, working landing page

GPT-5 Mini

Openai · Aug 2025website

Qwen3 Coder

Qwen · Jul 2025website

Vote

12 / 37

Pokémon Battle UI Recreationweb design

Recreate an interactive, nostalgic Pokémon battle UI in a single HTML file.

GPT-5 Mini

Openai · Aug 2025website

No content available for this output.

Qwen3 Coder

Qwen · Jul 2025website

No content available for this output.

Vote

12 of 37

FAQ

Continue exploring

GPT-5 Mini vs Pony AlphaNew provider

GPT-5 Mini vs MiniMax M2.5New provider

GPT-5 Mini vs Grok 3New provider

"Modern Life Problems"

[Walks on stage, adjusts mic]

[Pause]

[Gesture]

[Shake head]

[Pause for effect]

[Shrug]

[Look around audience]

[Pause]

You know what though? Despite all this madness, I remain optimistic. Why? Because I just figured out how to use my oven's timer function. Yesterday. I'm basically MacGyver now.

[Big smile]

Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience! Don't forget to tip your waitstaff – they're the only ones who still know what they're doing!

[Exit stage]