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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3.5-9B

Qwen3.5 397B A17B (Qwen) and Qwen3.5-9B (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 17 August 2026

As of 17 August 2026, Qwen3.5 397B A17B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#27 vs #83); and Qwen3.5-9B is 15.6× cheaper per output token ($0.15/1M vs $2.34/1M).

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3.5 397B A17B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #27 against #83 (62.3 vs 28.6 points).
  • you want provider choice — 11 listed API providers against 5.
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 34.3 against 21.8.

Choose Qwen3.5-9B if…

  • API cost matters — $0.15/1M output tokens against $2.34/1M, about 15.6× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.10/1M against $0.39/1M.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3.5-9B was listed 10 March 2026, Qwen3.5 397B A17B 16 February 2026.

Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3.5-9B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Qwen3.5-9B
FieldQwen3.5 397B A17BQwenQwen3.5-9BQwen
ModelCap Index position#27#83
Index score62.328.6
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.39$0.10
Output price / 1M tokens$2.34$0.15
Context window262K tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens66K262K
API providers listed115
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, Image, VideoText, Image, Video
First listed16 February 202610 March 2026
PublisherQwenQwen

Evidence: 3 public benchmark observations across 3 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: Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3.5-9B

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Qwen3.5-9B has a published result
BoardQwen3.5 397B A17BQwen3.5-9BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14911486–1497—Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis34.3intelligence-index21.8intelligence-indexQwen3.5 397B A17B

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.

Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3.5-9B: common questions

Is Qwen3.5 397B A17B better than Qwen3.5-9B?

Qwen3.5 397B A17B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #27 against #83. 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.

Is Qwen3.5 397B A17B cheaper than Qwen3.5-9B?

Qwen3.5-9B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.15/1M against $2.34/1M. Input tokens are $0.39/1M for Qwen3.5 397B A17B and $0.10/1M for Qwen3.5-9B. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Qwen3.5-9B?

Both publish a 262K-token context window.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Qwen3.5-9B?

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 Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Qwen3.5-9B open-weight models?

Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Open weights. Qwen3.5-9B: 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 Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Qwen3.5-9B?

ModelCap currently lists 11 API providers for Qwen3.5 397B A17B and 5 for Qwen3.5-9B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3.5-9B comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 17 August 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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