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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct

Qwen3.5 397B A17B (Qwen) and Qwen3 VL 32B 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 11 October 2026

As of 11 October 2026, Qwen3.5 397B A17B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#42 vs #154); and Qwen3.5 397B A17B offers the longer context window (262K vs 131K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3.5 397B A17B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #42 against #154 (68.8 vs 41.7 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 262K tokens against 131K.
  • you want provider choice — 10 listed API providers against 0.
  • AA τ²-Bench Telecom is your yardstick — 95.6% against 29.2%.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 29.0% against 6.8%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3.5 397B A17B was listed 16 February 2026, Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct 23 October 2025.

Choose Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct if…

  • ModelCap publishes no field on which Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct leads Qwen3.5 397B A17B for this pair.

Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct
FieldQwen3.5 397B A17BQwenQwen3 VL 32B InstructQwen
ModelCap Index position#42#154
Index score68.841.7
EvidenceMeasuredEstimated
Input price / 1M tokens$0.55Unlisted
Output price / 1M tokens$3.50Unlisted
Context window262K tokens131K tokens
Declared route output cap236K33K
API providers listed100
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, Image, VideoText, Image
First listed16 February 202623 October 2025
PublisherQwenQwen

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 4 reported rows against measured corpus ladders (51%); publisher-corpus-prior over 211 held-out anchors (50%); shrunk 9.8 up toward the measured corpus. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct has a published result
BoardQwen3.5 397B A17BQwen3 VL 32B InstructLeads
Arena textArena (LMArena)14421439–1445Not reported—Only one result
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14921487–1496—Only one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis18.4Reasoning—Only one result
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis51.3%Reasoning—Only one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis95.6%Reasoning29.2%Non-reasoningQwen3.5 397B A17B
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis29.0%Reasoning6.8%Non-reasoningQwen3.5 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 32B Instruct: common questions

Is Qwen3.5 397B A17B better than Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct?

Qwen3.5 397B A17B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 11 October 2026: #42 against #154. 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 Qwen3.5 397B A17B cheaper than Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct?

At least one of the two has no listed API price on ModelCap right now, so no price comparison is made.

Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct?

Qwen3.5 397B A17B has the larger context window: 262K tokens against 131K. OpenRouter catalogue or provider-endpoint declaration. Limits can vary by provider and prompt length; a model-wide maximum has not been independently verified.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct?

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 VL 32B Instruct open-weight models?

Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Open weights. Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence. A missing weight link does not identify every API or chat product that offers a model.

Where can I run Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct?

ModelCap currently lists 10 API providers for Qwen3.5 397B A17B and 0 for Qwen3 VL 32B 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 32B Instruct comparison?

Every figure and ModelCap Index position comes from the same published snapshot dated 11 October 2026. Publication and page updates happen separately; use the snapshot date shown on the page.

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