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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct vs Qwen3.6 35B A3B

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct (Qwen) and Qwen3.6 35B A3B (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 1 October 2026

As of 1 October 2026, Qwen3.6 35B A3B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#72 vs #189); Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is 2.5× cheaper per output token ($0.40/1M vs $1.00/1M); Qwen3.6 35B A3B offers the longer context window (262K vs 33K tokens); and Qwen3.6 35B A3B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen2.5 72B Instruct if…

  • API cost matters — $0.40/1M output tokens against $1.00/1M, about 2.5× cheaper.

Choose Qwen3.6 35B A3B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #72 against #189 (60.7 vs 29.0 points).
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.15/1M against $0.36/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 262K tokens against 33K.
  • you want to self-host: Qwen3.6 35B A3B ships open weights while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is restricted license.
  • you want provider choice — 9 listed API providers against 2.
  • AA τ²-Bench Telecom is your yardstick — 95.3% against 34.5%.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 22.2% against 3.6%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3.6 35B A3B was listed 27 April 2026, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct 19 September 2024.

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct vs Qwen3.6 35B A3B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen2.5 72B Instruct and Qwen3.6 35B A3B
FieldQwen2.5 72B InstructQwenQwen3.6 35B A3BQwen
ModelCap Index position#189#72
Index score29.060.7
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.36$0.15
Output price / 1M tokens$0.40$1.00
Context window33K tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens16K236K
API providers listed29
Weight accessRestricted licenseOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText, Image, Video
First listed19 September 202427 April 2026
PublisherQwenQwen

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Qwen2.5 72B Instruct vs Qwen3.6 35B A3B

Public benchmark boards where Qwen2.5 72B Instruct or Qwen3.6 35B A3B has a published result
BoardQwen2.5 72B InstructQwen3.6 35B A3BLeads
Arena textArena (LMArena)13031299–1307Not reported—Only one result
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13551347–1363—Only one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—18.2ReasoningOnly one result
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis—44.9%ReasoningOnly one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis34.5%Non-reasoning95.3%ReasoningQwen3.6 35B A3B
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis3.6%Non-reasoning22.2%ReasoningQwen3.6 35B A3B

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.

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct vs Qwen3.6 35B A3B: common questions

Is Qwen2.5 72B Instruct better than Qwen3.6 35B A3B?

Qwen3.6 35B A3B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 1 October 2026: #72 against #189. 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 do not overlap, but the aggregate Index does not predict performance on every task; compare the relevant benchmark configurations before choosing.

Is Qwen2.5 72B Instruct cheaper than Qwen3.6 35B A3B?

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is cheaper on output tokens: $0.40/1M against $1.00/1M. Input tokens are $0.36/1M for Qwen2.5 72B Instruct and $0.15/1M for Qwen3.6 35B A3B. 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 $0.92 for Qwen2.5 72B Instruct versus $0.80 for Qwen3.6 35B A3B. Qwen3.6 35B A3B costs 13.0% 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, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct or Qwen3.6 35B A3B?

Qwen3.6 35B A3B has the larger context window: 262K tokens against 33K.

Which is better for coding, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct or Qwen3.6 35B A3B?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are Qwen2.5 72B Instruct and Qwen3.6 35B A3B open-weight models?

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct: Restricted license. Qwen3.6 35B A3B: 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 Qwen2.5 72B Instruct and Qwen3.6 35B A3B?

ModelCap currently lists 2 API providers for Qwen2.5 72B Instruct and 9 for Qwen3.6 35B A3B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Qwen2.5 72B Instruct vs Qwen3.6 35B A3B comparison?

Every figure and ModelCap Index position comes from the same published snapshot dated 1 October 2026. Publication and page updates happen separately; use the snapshot date shown on the page.

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