Grok Code Fast 1 vs Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
Grok Code Fast 1 (2025) and Qwen3.6-35B-A3B (2026) are agentic coding models from xAI and Alibaba. Grok Code Fast 1 ships a 262K-token context window, while Qwen3.6-35B-A3B ships a 262K-token context window. On SWE-bench Verified, Qwen3.6-35B-A3B leads by 2.6 pts. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is safer overall; choose Grok Code Fast 1 when coding workflow support matters.
Specs
| Released | 2025-08-27 | 2026-04-16 |
| Context window | 262K | 262K |
| Parameters | 314B | 35 |
| Architecture | mixture of experts | moe |
| License | Proprietary | Apache 2.0 |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Grok Code Fast 1 | Qwen3.6-35B-A3B | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.2/1M tokens | - |
| Output price | $1.5/1M tokens | - |
| Providers | - |
Capabilities
| Grok Code Fast 1 | Qwen3.6-35B-A3B | |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | ||
| Multimodal | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Function calling | ||
| Tool use | ||
| Structured outputs | ||
| Code execution |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Grok Code Fast 1 | Qwen3.6-35B-A3B |
|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 70.8 | 73.4 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, SWE-bench Verified has Grok Code Fast 1 at 70.8 and Qwen3.6-35B-A3B at 73.4, with Qwen3.6-35B-A3B ahead by 2.6 points. The largest visible gap is 2.6 points on SWE-bench Verified, which matters most when that benchmark mirrors your workload. Treat isolated benchmark wins as directional, because provider routing, prompt style, and tool access can move real application results.
The capability footprint differs most on multimodal input: Qwen3.6-35B-A3B and structured outputs: Grok Code Fast 1. Both models share function calling and tool use, 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.
Pricing coverage is uneven: Grok Code Fast 1 has $0.2/1M input tokens and Qwen3.6-35B-A3B has no token price sourced yet. Provider availability is 1 tracked routes versus 0. Treat unknown pricing as an integration gap, then verify the route you will actually call before estimating production spend.
Choose Grok Code Fast 1 when coding workflow support and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Qwen3.6-35B-A3B when coding workflow support are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Grok Code Fast 1 or Qwen3.6-35B-A3B?
Grok Code Fast 1 supports 262K tokens, while Qwen3.6-35B-A3B supports 262K tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Is Grok Code Fast 1 or Qwen3.6-35B-A3B open source?
Grok Code Fast 1 is listed under Proprietary. Qwen3.6-35B-A3B 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, Grok Code Fast 1 or Qwen3.6-35B-A3B?
Qwen3.6-35B-A3B 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 function calling, Grok Code Fast 1 or Qwen3.6-35B-A3B?
Both Grok Code Fast 1 and Qwen3.6-35B-A3B expose function calling. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Which is better for tool use, Grok Code Fast 1 or Qwen3.6-35B-A3B?
Both Grok Code Fast 1 and Qwen3.6-35B-A3B expose tool use. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Where can I run Grok Code Fast 1 and Qwen3.6-35B-A3B?
Grok Code Fast 1 is available on OpenRouter. Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is available on the tracked providers still being sourced. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-04-24. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.