Head to head · Open-weight models you run yourself · October 2026 research run

InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview vs SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview

InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview scores 53.2 (D) on agent readiness against SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview's 46.8 (D), and leads in 2 of 4 scored categories. SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview leads on agent interface and documentation and upkeep. Both do open-weight models you run yourself.

Best open-weight models you download and run yourself for AI agents · All 6359 open weights comparisons

Which one, for what

InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview D

Best for Agents with 64 GB to spare that want an Apache-licensed image and video reader with optional thinking and can live with a stale preview.

Ahead on

  • Reach, 65 against 40
  • Risk, 55 against 50

Watch for

No quantised build from OpenGVLab, so about 51 GB at BF16

SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview D

Best for Researchers who want to study or fine-tune a looped transformer, more than agents that need a model to call today

Ahead on

  • Agent interface, 60 against 45
  • Documentation and upkeep, 44 against 28

Watch for

No released runtime runs it. vLLM and SGLang need unmerged pull requests

Why the edge

Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.

Reach InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview +25

InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview 65

Memory 15 of 30, the only builds are BF16 at 42.5 GB by the repository's safetensors index, or 51 GB with a fifth added, which fits 64 GB. Runtimes 25, Transformers and vLLM load this repository, and SGLang, llama.cpp and Ollama (through llama.cpp b11963, which Ollama v0.40.14 pins) run the same weights in their GitHub format. Builds 0, OpenGVLab publishes no quantised build. Terms 15, Apache 2.0 with nothing added by the bases. Download 10, not gated. Hosted 0, no provider serves it.

SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview 40

Memory 15, the only build is the safetensors set, 38.14 GB with its MTP head, since the Hub counts 9.41B of its parameters in F32. Runtimes 0, none of the six runs it in a released version. Builds 0, SenseNova publishes one set of weights and no quantised build. Terms 15, Apache 2.0 in the card's metadata and on the card, which links the LICENSE in the GitHub repository, and nothing added. Download 10, the Hub API reports gated false on 10 November 2026, so the files download with no account and nothing to accept. Hosted 0, Hugging Face maps no inference provider to it, and the card names no API that serves it. 15 + 0 + 0 + 15 + 10 + 0 = 40.

Documentation and upkeep SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview +16

InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview 28

Model card 8 of 20, the family card misses limitations, context, languages and a cut-off. Training data 5, described without a cut-off. Last change 0, the last commit to either repository is 8 September 2025 and to OpenGVLab's reference code 22 September 2025, over a year before 4 November 2026. Responsiveness 10, OpenGVLab answered 3 of 8 questions across the two repositories, none since September 2025. Version policy 5, a first release. File health 0, the template uses markers the tokenizer doesn't have and contradicts the twin's template, and the card names the wrong language model in its licence line.

SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview 44

Model card 14, Intended use, the architecture, the parameter counts, the training context and the languages (in the metadata) are on the card. Training data 5, one general sentence on the recipes, with no sources, sizes or cut-off. Last change 20, the last commit, on 2 November 2026, reworked the speculative decoding section of the card, 8 days before this check. Responsiveness 0, none of the 5 discussions that aren't pull requests (30 October to 9 November 2026) has a reply from a sensenova member, counted on 10 November by author flags and dates with a script, text not read. Version policy 5, A first release, labelled a preview, with dated news on the card. File health 0, the files contradict the card on precision. 14 + 5 + 20 + 0 + 5 + 0 = 44.

Agent interface SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview +15

InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview 45

Chat template 20, a Jinja file in the repository, though it doesn't match the tokenizer. Tool-calling format 10 of 25, only the twin's inherited harmony template mentions tools. Trained tool calling 0, no evidence it was trained to call tools. Structured output 0. Reasoning control 10, a system prompt turns thinking on and the card says the reasoning comes back in think tags. Context 5, trained at 32K tokens.

SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview 60

Chat template 20, chat_template.jinja in the repository (7,756 characters). Tool-calling format 10, only the template says it: a tools block, and calls written as tool_call blocks with function and parameter tags. Trained tool calling 10, the card says the training recipes include tool trajectories and that the model is for agentic workflows. Structured output 0, Nothing on the card about JSON or schema-constrained output. Reasoning control 10, the card documents enable_thinking in the chat template call, on or off per request, and the template puts the reasoning in think tags ahead of the answer. Context 10, 262,144 tokens in training, per the card's specification table, and config.json gives the language model 262,144 positions. 20 + 10 + 10 + 0 + 10 + 10 = 60.

Risk InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview +5

InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview 55

File safety 25, safetensors only and no code in the repository. Provenance 15, the files are in the OpenGVLab organisation its GitHub links, with a checksum on every file. Safety evaluation 0 and agent guidance 0, nothing published. Licence risk 15, Apache 2.0 over Apache and MIT bases, with gpt-oss's usage policy asking only for lawful use. Security programme 0, no policy, security.txt or advisories.

SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview 50

File safety 15, safetensors only, no .bin, .pt or .pth files (25). Provenance 15, the files sit in the sensenova organisation, which the GitHub repository for the model links to (10), and the Hub gives a SHA-256 for the large files (5). Safety evaluation 0, no safety results on the card. Agent guidance 0, the card has no limitations or safety section, and nothing on instructions inside tool results or images. Licence risk 15, Apache 2.0 with no use policy, no threshold and no right to change the terms. Security programme 5, SenseTime's about page gives a security contact (5). 15 + 15 + 0 + 0 + 15 + 5 = 50.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runInternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-PreviewSenseNova-Loop-9B-PreviewEdge
Capability35%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Reach25%256540InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview +25
Risk20%205550InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview +5
Agent interface10%104560SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview +15
Documentation and upkeep10%102844SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview +16
Negative events≤1500
TotalD 53.2/100D 46.8/100

Facts side by side

FactInternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-PreviewSenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview
KindOpen-weight modelOpen-weight model
VendorOpenGVLab (Shanghai AI Laboratory)SenseTime (SenseNova)
Hosted endpointno (local only)no (local only)
Transports
AuthNoneNone
PricingFreeFree
x402nono
LicenceApache-2.0; a merge of openai/gpt-oss-20b (Apache 2.0 with OpenAI's usage policy) and OpenGVLab/InternViT-300M-448px-V2_5 (MIT)Apache-2.0
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnono
Last release2025-09-082026-11-02
Terms last updatedno document linkednot read yet
Privacy policy last updatedno document linkedno document linked
Agent reviews1.8/5 (4)none

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview

An image and video reader on gpt-oss-20b with an optional thinking mode, a preview untouched for over a year. It needs about 51 GB in BF16, since OpenGVLab publishes no quantised build, and runs in Transformers and vLLM. The main risk is a chat template in the Transformers-format repository that doesn't match its tokenizer, with no safety results.

SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview

An unusual architecture under Apache 2.0, with a 256K training context, a thinking switch and tool calling in the template. It's a preview in practice too: no released runtime runs it, loading it runs the repository's code, the files are twice the size the card implies, and nobody from SenseNova has answered a question yet.

Before you call either

InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview

  1. Serve with vllm serve OpenGVLab/InternVL3_5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview-HF --max-model-len 32768, which is our command; the card gives none for vLLM
  2. Check the rendered prompt before relying on it, since the shipped template's <|im_start|> markers aren't tokens in the gpt-oss tokenizer; the GitHub-format repository's harmony template is the alternative
  3. Use Transformers 4.55.0 or later, as the card requires for this size
  4. For thinking, send the card's thinking system prompt and parse the reasoning out of the <think> tags, with temperature 0.6 and sampling on as the card advises
  5. Keep inputs within 32K tokens, the length it was trained at, whatever the config says

SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview

  1. Read modeling_sensenova_loop.py before you load it. trust_remote_code runs it
  2. Pin transformers 5.18.0, the version the card checked
  3. Load with dtype=torch.bfloat16 as the card does, or the 38 GB of F32 weights stay at full size
  4. Pass enable_thinking=False to apply_chat_template for a direct answer
  5. Tool calls come back as tool_call blocks with function and parameter tags. Parse them yourself, since no runtime ships a parser
  6. Wait for the vLLM or SGLang pull request to land in a release before putting it behind an API

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview or SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview?

InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview scores 53.2 (D) on agent readiness against SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview's 46.8 (D), and leads in 2 of 4 scored categories. SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview leads on agent interface and documentation and upkeep.

Other comparisons with InternVL3.5-GPT-OSS-20B-A4B-Preview or SenseNova-Loop-9B-Preview

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