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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3.5-9B vs Qwen3.8 27B

Qwen3.5-9B (Qwen) and Qwen3.8 27B (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 2 October 2026

As of 2 October 2026, Qwen3.8 27B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#39 vs #95); Qwen3.5-9B is 20× cheaper per output token ($0.15/1M vs $3.00/1M); and Qwen3.8 27B offers the longer context window (1M vs 262K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3.5-9B if…

  • API cost matters — $0.15/1M output tokens against $3.00/1M, about 20× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.10/1M against $0.42/1M.

Choose Qwen3.8 27B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #39 against #95 (68.9 vs 54.9 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 262K.
  • you want provider choice — 17 listed API providers against 6.
  • AA Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 33.7 against 11.2.
  • AA Terminal-Bench 2.1 is your yardstick — 79.8% against 29.2%.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 33.9% against 14.9%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3.8 27B was listed 14 August 2026, Qwen3.5-9B 10 March 2026.

Qwen3.5-9B vs Qwen3.8 27B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3.5-9B and Qwen3.8 27B
FieldQwen3.5-9BQwenQwen3.8 27BQwen
ModelCap Index position#95#39
Index score54.968.9
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.10$0.42
Output price / 1M tokens$0.15$3.00
Context window262K tokens1M tokens
Max output tokens33K131K
API providers listed617
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, Image, VideoText, Image, Video
First listed10 March 202614 August 2026
PublisherQwenQwen

Evidence: 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board · 5 public benchmark observations across 5 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Qwen3.5-9B vs Qwen3.8 27B

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3.5-9B or Qwen3.8 27B has a published result
BoardQwen3.5-9BQwen3.8 27BLeads
Arena textArena (LMArena)—14391433–1444Not reportedOnly one result
Arena codingArena (LMArena)—15051496–1514Only one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation—42.4%X-HighOnly one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis11.2Reasoning33.7X-HighQwen3.8 27B
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis29.2%Reasoning79.8%X-HighQwen3.8 27B
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis86.8%Reasoning—Only one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis14.9%Reasoning33.9%X-HighQwen3.8 27B
WildClawBench OpenClawWildClawBench—48.0Only 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.

Qwen3.5-9B vs Qwen3.8 27B: common questions

Is Qwen3.5-9B better than Qwen3.8 27B?

Qwen3.8 27B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 2 October 2026: #39 against #95. 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 Qwen3.5-9B cheaper than Qwen3.8 27B?

Qwen3.5-9B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.15/1M against $3.00/1M. Input tokens are $0.10/1M for Qwen3.5-9B and $0.42/1M for Qwen3.8 27B. 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 $0.27 for Qwen3.5-9B versus $2.34 for Qwen3.8 27B. Qwen3.5-9B costs 88.2% 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, Qwen3.5-9B or Qwen3.8 27B?

Qwen3.8 27B has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 262K.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3.5-9B or Qwen3.8 27B?

AA Terminal-Bench 2.1: Qwen3.5-9B 29.2%, Qwen3.8 27B 79.8% — Qwen3.8 27B leads.

Are Qwen3.5-9B and Qwen3.8 27B open-weight models?

Qwen3.5-9B: Open weights. Qwen3.8 27B: 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 Qwen3.5-9B and Qwen3.8 27B?

ModelCap currently lists 6 API providers for Qwen3.5-9B and 17 for Qwen3.8 27B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Qwen3.5-9B vs Qwen3.8 27B comparison?

Every figure and ModelCap Index position comes from the same published snapshot dated 2 October 2026. Publication and page updates happen separately; use the snapshot date shown on the page.

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