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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3.5-9B vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

Qwen3.5-9B (Qwen) and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking (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, Qwen3.5-9B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#83 vs #100); and Qwen3.5-9B is 16× cheaper per output token ($0.15/1M vs $2.40/1M).

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3.5-9B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #83 against #100 (28.6 vs 23.7 points).
  • API cost matters — $0.15/1M output tokens against $2.40/1M, about 16× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.10/1M against $0.20/1M.
  • you want provider choice — 5 listed API providers against 2.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3.5-9B was listed 10 March 2026, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking 6 October 2025.

Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking if…

  • ModelCap publishes no field on which Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking leads Qwen3.5-9B for this pair.

Qwen3.5-9B vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3.5-9B and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
FieldQwen3.5-9BQwenQwen3 VL 30B A3B ThinkingQwen
ModelCap Index position#83#100
Index score28.623.7
EvidenceMeasuredEstimated
Input price / 1M tokens$0.10$0.20
Output price / 1M tokens$0.15$2.40
Context window262K tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens262K33K
API providers listed52
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, Image, VideoText, Image
First listed10 March 20266 October 2025
PublisherQwenQwen

Evidence: 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board · publisher corpus prior · leave-one-anchor-out calibrated. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Qwen3.5-9B vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3.5-9B or Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking has a published result
BoardQwen3.5-9BQwen3 VL 30B A3B ThinkingLeads
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis21.8intelligence-index—Only 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 VL 30B A3B Thinking: common questions

Is Qwen3.5-9B better than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

Qwen3.5-9B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #83 against #100. 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 Qwen3.5-9B cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

Qwen3.5-9B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.15/1M against $2.40/1M. Input tokens are $0.10/1M for Qwen3.5-9B and $0.20/1M for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3.5-9B or Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

Both publish a 262K-token context window.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3.5-9B or Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

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 Qwen3.5-9B and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking open-weight models?

Qwen3.5-9B: Open weights. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking: 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 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

ModelCap currently lists 5 API providers for Qwen3.5-9B and 2 for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking, 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 VL 30B A3B Thinking 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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