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ModelCap

Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

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

As of 22 September 2026, Qwen3.5 397B A17B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#42 vs #68); and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is 1.8× cheaper per output token ($1.90/1M vs $3.50/1M).

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3.5 397B A17B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #42 against #68 (69.7 vs 61.4 points).
  • you want provider choice — 10 listed API providers against 5.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1491 against 1465.
  • AA τ²-Bench Telecom is your yardstick — 95.6% against 35.1%.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 29.0% against 6.6%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3.5 397B A17B was listed 16 February 2026, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct 23 September 2025.

Choose Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct if…

  • API cost matters — $1.90/1M output tokens against $3.50/1M, about 1.8× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.21/1M against $0.55/1M.

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

Specification comparison of Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
FieldQwen3.5 397B A17BQwenQwen3 VL 235B A22B InstructQwen
ModelCap Index position#42#68
Index score69.761.4
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.55$0.21
Output price / 1M tokens$3.50$1.90
Context window262K tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens236K33K
API providers listed105
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, Image, VideoText, Image
First listed16 February 202623 September 2025
PublisherQwenQwen

Evidence: 3 public benchmark observations across 3 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: Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct has a published result
BoardQwen3.5 397B A17BQwen3 VL 235B A22B InstructLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14911486–149614651452–1478Qwen3.5 397B A17B
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis18.4intelligence-index:v4.3:reasoning-unspecified—Only one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis95.6%tau2:telecom:dual-control:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Qwen3.5 397B A17B (Reasoning)":reasoning=true35.1%tau2:telecom:dual-control:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct":reasoning=falseQwen3.5 397B A17B
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis29.0%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Qwen3.5 397B A17B (Reasoning)":reasoning=true6.6%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct":reasoning=falseQwen3.5 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 VL 235B A22B Instruct: common questions

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

Qwen3.5 397B A17B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 22 September 2026: #42 against #68. 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 Qwen3.5 397B A17B cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is cheaper on output tokens: $1.90/1M against $3.50/1M. Input tokens are $0.55/1M for Qwen3.5 397B A17B 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 $2.85 for Qwen3.5 397B A17B versus $1.37 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct costs 51.9% 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, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

Both publish a 262K-token context window.

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

Arena coding: Qwen3.5 397B A17B 1491, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct 1465 — Qwen3.5 397B A17B leads.

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

Qwen3.5 397B A17B: 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 Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

ModelCap currently lists 10 API providers for Qwen3.5 397B A17B 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 Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct 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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