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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3 235B A22B vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Qwen3 235B A22B (Qwen) and Qwen3.5 397B A17B (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 22 September 2026

As of 22 September 2026, Qwen3.5 397B A17B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#42 vs #86); Qwen3 235B A22B is 1.9× cheaper per output token ($1.82/1M vs $3.50/1M); and Qwen3.5 397B A17B offers the longer context window (262K vs 131K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3 235B A22B if…

  • API cost matters — $1.82/1M output tokens against $3.50/1M, about 1.9× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.455/1M against $0.55/1M.

Choose Qwen3.5 397B A17B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #42 against #86 (69.7 vs 56.0 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 262K tokens against 131K.
  • you want provider choice — 10 listed API providers against 1.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1491 against 1445.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3.5 397B A17B was listed 16 February 2026, Qwen3 235B A22B 28 April 2025.

Qwen3 235B A22B vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3 235B A22B and Qwen3.5 397B A17B
FieldQwen3 235B A22BQwenQwen3.5 397B A17BQwen
ModelCap Index position#86#42
Index score56.069.7
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.455$0.55
Output price / 1M tokens$1.82$3.50
Context window131K tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens8K236K
API providers listed110
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText, Image, Video
First listed28 April 202516 February 2026
PublisherQwenQwen

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Qwen3 235B A22B vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3 235B A22B or Qwen3.5 397B A17B has a published result
BoardQwen3 235B A22BQwen3.5 397B A17BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14451438–1453No thinking14911486–1496Qwen3.5 397B A17B
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—18.4intelligence-index:v4.3:reasoning-unspecifiedOnly one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis—95.6%tau2:telecom:dual-control:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Qwen3.5 397B A17B (Reasoning)":reasoning=trueOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis—29.0%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Qwen3.5 397B A17B (Reasoning)":reasoning=trueOnly 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.

Qwen3 235B A22B vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B: common questions

Is Qwen3 235B A22B better than Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

Qwen3.5 397B A17B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 22 September 2026: #42 against #86. 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 Qwen3 235B A22B cheaper than Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

Qwen3 235B A22B is cheaper on output tokens: $1.82/1M against $3.50/1M. Input tokens are $0.455/1M for Qwen3 235B A22B and $0.55/1M for Qwen3.5 397B A17B. 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 $1.82 for Qwen3 235B A22B versus $2.85 for Qwen3.5 397B A17B. Qwen3 235B A22B costs 36.1% 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, Qwen3 235B A22B or Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

Qwen3.5 397B A17B has the larger context window: 262K tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3 235B A22B or Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

Arena coding: Qwen3 235B A22B 1445, Qwen3.5 397B A17B 1491 — Qwen3.5 397B A17B leads.

Are Qwen3 235B A22B and Qwen3.5 397B A17B open-weight models?

Qwen3 235B A22B: Open weights. Qwen3.5 397B A17B: 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 Qwen3 235B A22B and Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Qwen3 235B A22B and 10 for Qwen3.5 397B A17B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Qwen3 235B A22B vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 22 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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