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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Grok 4.6

Qwen3.5 397B A17B (Qwen) and Grok 4.6 (xAI) 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, Grok 4.6 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#10 vs #27); Qwen3.5 397B A17B is 2.6× cheaper per output token ($2.34/1M vs $6.00/1M); Grok 4.6 offers the longer context window (500K vs 262K tokens); and Qwen3.5 397B A17B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3.5 397B A17B if…

  • API cost matters — $2.34/1M output tokens against $6.00/1M, about 2.6× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.39/1M against $2.00/1M.
  • you want to self-host: Qwen3.5 397B A17B ships open weights while Grok 4.6 is api only.
  • you want provider choice — 11 listed API providers against 1.

Choose Grok 4.6 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #10 against #27 (74.4 vs 62.3 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 500K tokens against 262K.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1512 against 1491.
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 60.9 against 34.3.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Grok 4.6 was listed 12 August 2026, Qwen3.5 397B A17B 16 February 2026.

Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Grok 4.6: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Grok 4.6
FieldQwen3.5 397B A17BQwenGrok 4.6xAI
ModelCap Index position#27#10
Index score62.374.4
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.39$2.00
Output price / 1M tokens$2.34$6.00
Context window262K tokens500K tokens
Max output tokens66K—
API providers listed111
Weight accessOpen weightsAPI only
Input modalitiesText, Image, VideoText, Image, File
First listed16 February 202612 August 2026
PublisherQwenxAI

Evidence: 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards · 5 public benchmark observations across 5 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Grok 4.6

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Grok 4.6 has a published result
BoardQwen3.5 397B A17BGrok 4.6Leads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14911486–149715121485–1538HighGrok 4.6
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation—67.1%X-HighOnly one result
ARC-AGI-3ARC Prize Foundation—2.1%X-HighOnly one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis34.3intelligence-index60.9intelligence-indexGrok 4.6

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 Grok 4.6: common questions

Is Qwen3.5 397B A17B better than Grok 4.6?

Grok 4.6 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #10 against #27. 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 Grok 4.6?

Qwen3.5 397B A17B is cheaper on output tokens: $2.34/1M against $6.00/1M. Input tokens are $0.39/1M for Qwen3.5 397B A17B and $2.00/1M for Grok 4.6. 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 Grok 4.6?

Grok 4.6 has the larger context window: 500K tokens against 262K.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Grok 4.6?

Arena coding: Qwen3.5 397B A17B 1491, Grok 4.6 1512 — Grok 4.6 leads.

Are Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Grok 4.6 open-weight models?

Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Open weights. Grok 4.6: API only. 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 Grok 4.6?

ModelCap currently lists 11 API providers for Qwen3.5 397B A17B and 1 for Grok 4.6, 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 Grok 4.6 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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