GPT-4.1 Nano vs Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct
GPT-4.1 Nano leads Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 7.8 to 7.3, and GPT-4.1 Nano costs 1.9x less per output token ($0.40 vs $0.75 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 11 benchmarks have a result for both.
GPT-4.1 Nano or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick GPT-4.1 Nano for output tokens 1.9x cheaper ($0.40 vs $0.75 per million) and a larger context window (1.05M against 262K tokens).
- Shared results
- 11
- GPT-4.1 Nano only
- 60
- Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct only
- 0
- Like-for-like categories
- 7 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
GPT-4.1 Nano
GPT-4.1 Nano leads, 7.8 against 7.3.
Same board, both measured
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only GPT-4.1 Nano has a GPQA Diamond result, 50.8%.
Directional only
Math
AIME
No call
Only GPT-4.1 Nano has a AIME result, 26.5%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only GPT-4.1 Nano has a MMLU Pro result, 63.5%.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only GPT-4.1 Nano has a Design Arena: websites result, 973.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
GPT-4.1 Nano
GPT-4.1 Nano takes 1.05M tokens against 262K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
GPT-4.1 Nano
GPT-4.1 Nano $0.0003, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct $0.0006 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- GPT-4.1 Nano not benchmarked, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Agentic work, 12.0 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- Long context reasoning (AA-LCR): GPT-4.1 Nano 20.3% against Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct 33.3%, 13.0 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- GPT-4.1 Nano $0.40 against Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct $0.75 per million output tokens, 1.9x apart.
- Context window
- GPT-4.1 Nano takes 1.05M tokens, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct 262K.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | GPT-4.1 Nano | Bars | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 1 | 1 tie | |
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 1 | ||
| Reasoning | 0 | 1 | 1 tie | |
| Math | 0 | 2 | ||
| Knowledge | 0 | 1 | ||
| General | 0 | 2 | ||
| All shared boards | 1 | 8 | 2 ties |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index01
| Benchmark | GPT-4.1 Nano | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aider polyglot | 8.9% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| AA Coding Index | 11.1 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 42.7% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 32.6% | 35.3% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 3.8% | 3.8% | Tie |
| WeirdML | 19.0% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1306 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1305 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 35 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | GPT-4.1 Nano | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 7.8 | 7.3 | GPT-4.1 Nano |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 129.5 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | GPT-4.1 Nano | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 17.3% | 29.2% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard (BFCL) | 33.1% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | GPT-4.1 Nano | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 50.8% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| MMMU Pro (Vals AI) | 55.0% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 51.2% | 57.9% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 3.8% | 3.8% | Tie |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | 48.9% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| ARC-AGI | 0.0% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| ARC-AGI-2 | 0.0% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Chess puzzles | 0.0% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1286 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1271 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1293 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 33.3% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 11 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | GPT-4.1 Nano | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | 26.5% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| MATH 500 (Vals AI) | 80.2% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| MGSM (Vals AI) | 69.3% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| AA Math Index | 24.0 | 30.7 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 24.0% | 30.7% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| OTIS Mock AIME | 28.9% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| MATH level 5 | 70.0% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1274 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1274 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | GPT-4.1 Nano | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 63.5% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 61.1% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 42.1% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 60.8% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | 52.8% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | 68.2% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 65.7% | 74.9% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| SimpleQA Verified | 6.0% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1297 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1276 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1300 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1267 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | GPT-4.1 Nano | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 973 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 913 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 970 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 891 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 924 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 962 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 3 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | GPT-4.1 Nano | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 32.0% | 39.9% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 20.3% | 33.3% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| DTBench | 52.5% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMCA | 5.5% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Fiction.LiveBench | 25.0% | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text | 1285 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1266 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1260 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Vision | 1063 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1303 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1260 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1270 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: German | 1288 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1198 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1261 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1277 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1283 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1261 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1243 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| LMArena Vision: English | 1101 | Not measured | Only GPT-4.1 Nano measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 28 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | GPT-4.1 Nano | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
GPT-4.1 Nano costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
GPT-4.1 Nano costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
GPT-4.1 Nano costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | OpenAI GPT-4.1 Nano | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | OpenAI | Qwen |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | April 14, 2025 | October 14, 2025 |
| Context window | 1.05M | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.10 | $0.25 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.40 | $0.75 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is GPT-4.1 Nano better than Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick GPT-4.1 Nano for output tokens 1.9x cheaper ($0.40 vs $0.75 per million) and a larger context window (1.05M against 262K tokens).
Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 Nano or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?
GPT-4.1 Nano costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.40 per million output tokens; Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct costs $0.25 and $0.75. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, GPT-4.1 Nano or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?
GPT-4.1 Nano, with 1.05M tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks is the GPT-4.1 Nano vs Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct comparison based on?
11 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. GPT-4.1 Nano's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.