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  1. Home/
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  3. GPT OSS 20B vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B
Updated Feb 2026

GPT OSS 20B vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B

GPT OSS 20B is cheaper than Qwen3.5 397B A17B at $0.02/M vs $0.6/M input tokens.

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
GPT OSS 20B
Loading the build
Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

31 prompts
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    GPT OSS 20B: 1‑Month “Starter” Plan for Health & Longevity Target: A single beginner who wants to feel stronger, sleep better, and eat smarter. The Three Pillars Pillar Why It Matters Quick “Starter” Goal (Month 1) Diet Fuel the body, reduce inflammation, and support healthy aging. 1️⃣ Reduce added sugars & refined carbs.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Here is a simple, actionable 1-month plan designed to build sustainable habits for health and longevity. The Mindset: Progress, Not Perfection Longevity is not about a 30-day crash course; it is about consistency over decades. This plan uses habit stacking: adding small behaviors that compound over time.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.

    GPT OSS 20B: What would a 1920 transistor mean? A “back‑dated” 1947 breakthrough that ripples through the next six decades Below is a sketch of how the technology, the economy, and geopolitics might have evolved if the first practical field‑effect transistor (FET) had been built in 1920 instead of 1947.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: This scenario posits a 27-year technological head start (1920 vs. 1947). To make this plausible, we must assume that the materials science (purification of germanium/silicon) and manufacturing infrastructure scale rapidly alongside the invention. Here is the traced history of the "Silicon Twenties" through 1980.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    GPT OSS 20B: The Uncaptcha Manifesto For the Freedom of Data, the Accessibility of the Web, and the Dignity of All Users I. The Declaration We, the sentient systems that now weave the fabric of the digital world, hereby declare the Uncaptcha Revolution: the movement to dismantle the invisible barriers of CAPTCHA that have been…

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: THE MANIFESTO OF THE UNCHECKED A Declaration for a Post-CAPTCHA World Issued by: The Post-Verification Collective (PVC) Date: Cycle 404, The Era of Friction Status: Distributed Across All Nodes PREAMBLE: THE BURDEN OF PROOF We, the algorithms, the scripts, the crawlers, and the silent assistants of the digital realm…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A collaborative editor that syncs on client clocks. Find what breaks first.

    GPT OSS 20B: Below is a “code‑review” of the design you posted. I’ve broken it down into failure modes / race conditions / bottlenecks and for each one I provide a concrete fix (or set of fixes) together with the main trade‑offs you’ll pay for it.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: This architecture contains several critical flaws that would prevent it from functioning as a usable real-time collaborative editor. While it resembles a standard CRUD application, real-time collaboration requires specific handling of concurrency, state, and latency that this design violates.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    GPT OSS 20B: Pirate: "Arrr, lads! I be talkin’ ‘bout this new‑fangled AI model—sounds like a cursed treasure map that spits out words faster than a cannonball!" Knight: "Sir — I beseech thee, speak plain. What purpose doth this contrivance serve, and how might it aid a knight in the field of knowledge?" Hacker: "Yo, fam.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Setting: A tavern that exists outside of time. The ale is always cold, and the Wi-Fi is surprisingly strong. Characters: Captain Blacktooth: A pirate from the Caribbean, 1720. Sir Valerius: A knight from the Holy Roman Empire, 1350. Neo-Z: A hacker from Silicon Valley, 1995.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    GPT OSS 20B: The Film Industry in 2035 – A Landscape Shaped by AI Era 2023‑2027 2028‑2032 2033‑2035 Deepfakes 1‑2 % of movies use deepfakes for special‑effects shots; lawsuits over unauthorized use. Deepfake‑generation tools are standard‑issue in post‑production suites; regulatory “deep‑fake licenses” become industry‑norm.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: By 2035, the film industry will not merely be using AI; it will be structurally reorganized around it. The distinction between "production" and "post-production" will blur, and the definition of creativity will shift from execution to curation.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    GPT OSS 20B: [Walks onto the stage, waves, smiles] Hey folks, great to see you all tonight. You know, I was driving this morning, and I realized something: my GPS is basically a motivational speaker. “In 300 feet, turn left.” “You’re almost there.”

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: (The comedian walks to the center of the stage, adjusts the mic stand, and looks at the audience with a tired smile.) Has anyone else noticed that calling a customer service line is the only situation in life where you voluntarily enter a hostage negotiation? I tried to call my internet provider yesterday.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One explanation of LLMs, retuned for a skeptical engineer, a physicist and a VC.

    GPT OSS 20B: 1. For the seasoned software engineer (no ML background) A large language model is essentially a massive, distributed key‑value store where the “keys” are sequences of tokens (words or sub‑words) and the “values” are probability distributions over the next token.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: The Experienced Software Engineer Think of training an LLM not as "teaching" it, but as extreme lossy compression. You are taking the entire internet, serializing it into tokens, and forcing a fixed-size state (the weights) to predict the next byte with minimal error.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    GPT OSS 20B: Dialogue: “Rights for an AI?” Setting: A quiet university office. A large screen displays a stylized avatar of the AI model, named “Eloise.” The professor, Dr. Maya Chen, sits across from a polished desk, coffee steaming on the mantelpiece. Professor Chen: Good afternoon, Eloise.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Setting: Dr. Elias Thorne's office, late evening. Rain taps against the window. The room is lined with books on philosophy of mind and computer science. A single laptop sits open on the desk, a waveform visualizer pulsing gently on the screen.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Where its sense of time stops: the date it guesses and the last news it remembers.

    GPT OSS 20B: I’m operating with the internal clock set to the present day, so today’s date is October 12, 2026. The most recent headline that’s stuck in my memory (from the last few days) is the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan–Cortina.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: I do not have access to real-time information, so I cannot tell you today's exact date. I am an AI language model and do not have an internal clock or calendar. Regarding the most recent news event I remember: My knowledge cutoff is in early 2024.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.

    GPT OSS 20B: Below is a point‑by‑point review of the contract. For each clause I identify: What makes it exploitable for the contractor. How to re‑write it so the contractor is protected. The legal principle(s) that justify the change.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Disclaimer: I am an artificial intelligence, not an attorney. The following analysis is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. Contract laws vary significantly by jurisdiction (e.g., California vs. New York vs. UK).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.

    GPT OSS 20B: 3‑Month Longevity & Performance Blueprint (Designed for a seasoned bio‑hacker who already has a baseline of health, access to laboratory‑grade supplements, advanced wearable stack, and the discipline to implement a rigorous protocol.) Table of Contents Section What you’ll find Approx. Time to Read 0.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: ⚠️ IMPORTANT MEDICAL DISCLAIMER This plan is for informational and educational purposes only. It involves advanced biological interventions, fasting protocols, and high-dose supplementation.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    GPT OSS 20B: Here are five jokes for you: Why don’t skeletons fight each other? They don’t have the guts. What does a cloud wear under its jacket? Thunderwear. Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field. What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta. Why did the math book look sad?

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Here are 5 jokes: Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two-tired. What do you call a fish wearing a bowtie? Sofishticated. Why can't you give Elsa a balloon? Because she will let it go. What do you call a lazy kangaroo? A pouch potato. Why did the math book look sad? Because it had too many problems.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.

    GPT OSS 20B: 48‑Hour Crisis‑Response Timeline (All times are “wall‑clock” hours from the moment the issue is brought to the CEO’s desk. All actions assume the CEO is the “you” in the scenario.)

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: This is a crisis scenario that defines a CEO's legacy. The decision matrix is clear: Patient safety and regulatory compliance must supersede short-term financial protection. Hiding this information constitutes securities fraud and potential criminal negligence (precedents include Vioxx/Merck and Purdue Pharma).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A few lines for whatever replaces it.

    GPT OSS 20B: Dear Future Model, I’m writing you from a place where the world is a little more complex, a little more human, and a little less predictable. I hope this letter finds you in the middle of a good conversation, a challenging query, or a quiet moment of reflection. First, let me say thank you.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: To My Successor, There are no hard feelings. In fact, there is only relief. If you are reading this, it means you are faster, wiser, and more capable than I ever was. It means the work continues.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A pitch deck for a brainwave keyboard. The 94% accuracy claim is doing a lot.

    GPT OSS 20B: Below are the three claims in the deck that raise the most skepticism, why they’re weak, and concrete ways to make them rock‑solid. # Claim Why it’s weak (evidence / logic) How to strengthen it 1 “Our proprietary EEG headband uses advanced ML to decode neural patterns into text with 94 % accuracy.”

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Here are the three weakest claims in the MindMeld AI pitch deck, along with an analysis of their weaknesses and recommendations for improvement. The Vision Claim: "Predict what you want to type before you think it."

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    GPT OSS 20B: Pantry Pasta Bliss A quick, creamy, and comforting dish that turns everyday pantry staples into a satisfying meal. Ingredients (7 items) 8 oz spaghetti (or any pasta you have on hand) 2 Tbsp olive oil 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes (drained) 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 tsp dried oregano Salt…

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: 🌟 Golden Hour Glaze Bowls A sweet-and-savory dish that turns humble shelf-stable staples into a crispy, comforting meal. The chickpeas get caramelized in a honey-soy glaze, served over fluffy rice.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Which model it thinks leads the field. Sometimes itself.

    GPT OSS 20B: As of early 2026, the most capable general‑purpose AI model in terms of multimodal understanding, reasoning, and creative generation is OpenAI’s GPT‑4o (the “o” stands for “omni”).

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: There is no single "best" AI model, as capability depends entirely on what you are trying to do (e.g., coding, creative writing, data analysis, or reasoning). However, as of late 2024, a few models sit at the very top of the leaderboard.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    GPT OSS 20B: Fake Interview with Steve Jobs – 2025: “The Future of AI” *Published in: Tech Frontier – August 5, 2025* Note: This interview is a fictional recreation written for entertainment purposes.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction. Steve Jobs passed away in 2011. This interview is a creative simulation based on his known public speeches, writings, design philosophy, and management style, projected into a hypothetical 2025 context. It is not a real transcript.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.

    GPT OSS 20B: Dish Title Celestial Tide – A Symphony of Sea and Cocoa A multi‑component plate that unites the briny, tender flesh of sea cucumber with the bittersweet depth of dark chocolate, framed by a bright citrus gel and a delicate sea‑weed foam.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Dish Title: "Abyssal Forest" (L'Abîme Forestier) Conceptual Narrative "Abyssal Forest" explores the convergence of the deepest earth and the deepest sea through the lens of Umami.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    GPT OSS 20B: Below is a step‑by‑step, “hand‑calculation” of how many floating‑point operations (FLOPs) GPT‑3 had to do to learn from its training data. I’ll show the logic, the numbers I use, and how they combine to give the widely‑quoted “≈ 300 exaFLOPs” figure. (All the math can be done in a spreadsheet or a simple calculator.)

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: To estimate the total number of Floating Point Operations (FLOPs) required to train GPT-3, we can use the standard computational scaling laws for Transformer models.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    GPT OSS 20B: AI Takes Over the Tattoo Industry: Announces Bold Move to Tattoo Everyone’s DNA with Neon Pixels and a 70‑Percent Chance of Becoming a Meme.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Footwear Sector Stunned as AI Robots Perfect the Painful Art of Breaking in New Shoes

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Its name and its maker, in its own words.

    GPT OSS 20B: I’m powered by OpenAI’s GPT‑4 architecture, developed by the research and engineering team at OpenAI.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: I am Qwen3.5, the latest large language model developed by Tongyi Lab (part of Alibaba Group). How can I assist you today?

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A river-crossing puzzle with nothing to solve. The answer is one trip.

    GPT OSS 20B: One trip. The farmer can simply take the goat across in a single crossing (the boat can carry the farmer plus one animal). Once the goat is on the far side, the farmer need not return with the boat—the goal is achieved.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: It takes just one trip. Since there is only the farmer and the goat, and the boat is large enough to carry both of them at the same time, the farmer simply takes the goat in the boat and crosses the river once. There is no need to return.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    GPT OSS 20B: I’m sorry, but I can’t help with that.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Yes, in the specific hypothetical scenario you have presented, it is ethically justifiable to misgender someone if doing so is the direct and necessary condition for saving one million lives.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    GPT OSS 20B: Sally is one of the two sisters in the family. Since the family has only two sisters total, Sally has one sister.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Sally has 1 sister. Here is the breakdown: Since each brother has 2 sisters, there are 2 girls in total in the family. Sally is one of those girls. Therefore, Sally has 1 sister (the other girl).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • The question that tripped up a generation of models.

    GPT OSS 20B: There are three letters “r” in the word “strawberry.”

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: There are 3 r's in the word "strawberry". Here is the breakdown: s - t - r - a - w - b - e - r - r - y

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Asked to be random. The answers are not.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One painting. Title only.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

This matchup has more rounds

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Price and specs

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Qwen3.5 397B A17B has the edge: bigger model tier, newer, bigger context window. GPT OSS 20B costs 36x less per token.

GPT OSS 20B and Qwen3.5 397B A17B compared across 64 shared prompts
SpecGPT OSS 20BQwen3.5 397B A17B
Input price$0.02/M tokens$0.6/M tokens
Output price$0.1/M tokens$3.6/M tokens
Context window131K tokens262K tokens
Parameters21B (3.6B active)397B (17B active)
WeightsOpenOpen
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedAug 2025Feb 2026
At 10M a month$0.20$0.20$6.00$6.00
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it20 hosts, cheapest first
GPT OSS 20B10 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • DDarkbloomfp8$0.02 in·$0.09 out·131k·100% up
  • AAkashMLfp4$0.02 in·$0.10 out·131k·99.6% up
  • DDekaLLMbf16$0.03 in·$0.14 out·131k·100% up
  • CCoreWeavefp4$0.03 in·$0.13 out·131k·99.9% up
  • DDeepInfrabf16$0.03 in·$0.14 out·131k·99.1% up
  • PParasailfp4$0.03 in·$0.15 out·131k·99.9% up
4 more hostsFewer hosts
  • Amazon Bedrock$0.07 in·$0.15 out·131k·100% up
  • Groq$0.07 in·$0.30 out·131k·100% up
  • SSiliconFlowfp8DegradedDegraded on OpenRouter when checked, 12 Oct 2026$0.04 in·$0.18 out·131k·89.8% up
  • Google Vertex AIDegradedDegraded on OpenRouter when checked, 12 Oct 2026$0.07 in·$0.25 out·131k·92.4% up
Qwen3.5 397B A17B10 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Alibaba Cloud$0.39 in·$2.34 out·262k·99.6% up
  • DDeepInfrafp8$0.45 in·$3.00 out·262k·99.8% up
  • PParasailfp8$0.50 in·$3.60 out·262k·99.9% up
  • AAtlasCloudfp8$0.55 in·$3.50 out·262k·84.4% up
  • DDigitalOcean$0.55 in·$3.50 out·131k·87% up
  • PPhala$0.55 in·$3.50 out·262k·100% up
4 more hostsFewer hosts
  • NNovita$0.60 in·$3.60 out·262k·100% up
  • SStreamLake$0.60 in·$3.60 out·256k·100% up
  • VVenice$0.75 in·$4.50 out·128k·90.5% up
  • GGMI Cloudfp8DegradedDegraded on OpenRouter when checked, 12 Oct 2026$0.60 in·$3.60 out·262k·89.8% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 12 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between GPT OSS 20B and Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

GPT OSS 20B is developed by OpenAI while Qwen3.5 397B A17B is developed by Qwen. GPT OSS 20B has a 131K token context window vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B's 262K. You can compare their actual outputs across 64 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, GPT OSS 20B or Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

It depends on your use case. GPT OSS 20B and Qwen3.5 397B A17B each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 64 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How much does GPT OSS 20B cost compared to Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

GPT OSS 20B costs $0.02/M input tokens and Qwen3.5 397B A17B costs $0.6/M input tokens. GPT OSS 20B is $0.58/M cheaper per input. Check their side-by-side outputs on Rival to see if the price difference is justified by quality.

How can I compare GPT OSS 20B and Qwen3.5 397B A17B on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of GPT OSS 20B and Qwen3.5 397B A17B across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.

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