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Head-to-head comparison

R1 0528 vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

R1 0528 (DeepSeek) and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct (Qwen) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 13 September 2026

As of 13 September 2026, R1 0528 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#59 vs #61); Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is cheaper per output token ($1.90/1M vs $2.15/1M); and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct offers the longer context window (262K vs 164K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose R1 0528 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #59 against #61 (57.1 vs 55.4 points).

Choose Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct if…

  • API cost matters — $1.90/1M output tokens against $2.15/1M.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.21/1M against $0.50/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 262K tokens against 164K.
  • you want provider choice — 5 listed API providers against 4.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1465 against 1464.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct was listed 23 September 2025, R1 0528 28 May 2025.

R1 0528 vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of R1 0528 and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
FieldR1 0528DeepSeekQwen3 VL 235B A22B InstructQwen
ModelCap Index position#59#61
Index score57.155.4
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.50$0.21
Output price / 1M tokens$2.15$1.90
Context window164K tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens33K33K
API providers listed45
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText, Image
First listed28 May 202523 September 2025
PublisherDeepSeekQwen

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: R1 0528 vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

Public benchmark boards where R1 0528 or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct has a published result
BoardR1 0528Qwen3 VL 235B A22B InstructLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14641453–147514651451–1478Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis—35.1%tau2:telecom:dual-control:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct":reasoning=falseOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis—6.6%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct":reasoning=falseOnly one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

R1 0528 vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct: common questions

Is R1 0528 better than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

R1 0528 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 13 September 2026: #59 against #61. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is R1 0528 cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is cheaper on output tokens: $1.90/1M against $2.15/1M. Input tokens are $0.50/1M for R1 0528 and $0.21/1M for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $2.08 for R1 0528 versus $1.37 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct costs 34.0% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.

Which has the bigger context window, R1 0528 or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct has the larger context window: 262K tokens against 164K.

Which is better for coding, R1 0528 or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

Arena coding: R1 0528 1464, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct 1465 — Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct leads.

Are R1 0528 and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct open-weight models?

R1 0528: Open weights. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run R1 0528 and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

ModelCap currently lists 4 API providers for R1 0528 and 5 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this R1 0528 vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 13 September 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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