DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B vs Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B (2025) and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B (2026) are frontier reasoning models from Alibaba. DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B ships a 160K-token context window, while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ships a 262K-token context window. On pricing, DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B costs $0.2/1M input tokens versus $0.39/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B is ~95% cheaper at $0.2/1M; pay for Qwen3.5-397B-A17B only for long-context analysis.
Specs
| Released | 2025-01-01 | 2026-02-16 |
| Context window | 160K | 262K |
| Parameters | 8B | 397B |
| Architecture | decoder only | MoE |
| License | Open Source | Apache 2.0 |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.2/1M tokens | $0.39/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.2/1M tokens | $2.34/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B | |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | ||
| Multimodal | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Function calling | ||
| Tool use | ||
| Structured outputs | ||
| Code execution |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark rows are currently sourced for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on multimodal input: Qwen3.5-397B-A17B, reasoning mode: DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B, and structured outputs: Qwen3.5-397B-A17B. Both models share the core language-model surface, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
For cost, DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B lists $0.2/1M input and $0.2/1M output tokens, while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B lists $0.39/1M input and $2.34/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B lower by about $0.77 per million blended tokens. Availability is 1 providers versus 1, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B when reasoning depth and lower input-token cost are central to the workload. Choose Qwen3.5-397B-A17B when long-context analysis and larger context windows are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship. This keeps the decision grounded in measurable tradeoffs instead of brand-level assumptions. It also helps separate model capability from provider packaging, which can change cost and latency.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B supports 262K tokens, while DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B supports 160K tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B is cheaper on tracked token pricing. DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B costs $0.2/1M input and $0.2/1M output tokens. Qwen3.5-397B-A17B costs $0.39/1M input and $2.34/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B open source?
DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B is listed under Open Source. Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is listed under Apache 2.0. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for multimodal input, DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has the clearer documented multimodal input signal in this comparison. If multimodal input is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for reasoning mode, DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B has the clearer documented reasoning mode signal in this comparison. If reasoning mode is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
DeepSeek R1 0528 Distill Qwen3-8B is available on Fireworks AI. Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is available on OpenRouter. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options. Use this as a quick comparison signal, then confirm the provider-specific limits before committing to production.
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Last reviewed: 2026-04-24. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.