DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Qwen3.5-35B-A3B
DeepSeek R1 0528 (2025) and Qwen3.5-35B-A3B (2026) are frontier-tier reasoning models from DeepSeek and Alibaba. DeepSeek R1 0528 ships a 130k-token context window, while Qwen3.5-35B-A3B ships a 262k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Qwen3.5-35B-A3B leads by 0.3 pts. On pricing, Qwen3.5-35B-A3B costs $0.14/1M input tokens versus $0.50/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is ~260% cheaper at $0.14/1M; pay for DeepSeek R1 0528 only for coding workflow support.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | DeepSeek R1 0528 | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps and provider-routed production | reasoning-heavy apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 130k | 262k |
| Cheapest output | $2.15/1M tokens | $1/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 7 tracked | 2 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 4 shared | MMLU PRO leader |
Decision tradeoffs
- DeepSeek R1 0528 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- DeepSeek R1 0528 uniquely exposes Code execution in local model data.
- Local decision data tags DeepSeek R1 0528 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Qwen3.5-35B-A3B holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 0.3 points.
- Qwen3.5-35B-A3B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Qwen3.5-35B-A3B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $1/1M tokens.
- Qwen3.5-35B-A3B uniquely exposes JSON / Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3.5-35B-A3B for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
DeepSeek R1 0528
$938
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B
$361
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $576. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Novita AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is $1.15/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Code execution before moving production traffic.
- Qwen3.5-35B-A3B adds JSON / Tool use in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on Novita AI and OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- DeepSeek R1 0528 is $1.15/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for JSON / Tool use before moving production traffic.
- DeepSeek R1 0528 adds Code execution in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-05-28 | 2026-02-24 |
| Context window | 130k | 262k |
| Parameters | 685B total, 37B active (MoE) | 35B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Mixture of Experts |
| License | MITOSI-approved | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open source | Open source |
| Weights | Unknown | Available |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | DeepSeek R1 0528 | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.50/1M tokens | $0.14/1M tokens |
| Output price | $2.15/1M tokens | $1/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | DeepSeek R1 0528 | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| JSON / Tool use | No | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | Yes | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | DeepSeek R1 0528 | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 85.0 | 85.3 |
| SWE-bench Verified | 57.6 | 69.2 |
| Google-Proof Q&A | 81.0 | 84.5 |
| LiveCodeBench | 73.3 | 74.6 |
Continue comparing
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.