Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct vs Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct (2025) and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B (2026) are frontier reasoning models from Tokyo Institute of Technology and Alibaba. Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct ships a 4K-token context window, while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ships a 262K-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B fits 66x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct for tighter calls.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| Decision fit | General | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 4K | 262K |
| Cheapest output | - | $2.34/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 1 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Use Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct when your own prompt tests beat the comparison signals; the local data does not show a decisive standalone advantage yet.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B uniquely exposes Multimodal, Reasoning, and Function calling in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3.5-397B-A17B for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output prices on this page.
Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
$897
Cheapest tracked route: OpenRouter
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B adds Multimodal, Reasoning, and Function calling in local capability data.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Qwen3.5-397B-A17B and Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Multimodal, Reasoning, and Function calling before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-01-01 | 2026-02-16 |
| Context window | 4K | 262K |
| Parameters | 70B | 397B |
| Architecture | decoder only | MoE |
| License | 1 | Apache 2.0 |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | - | $0.39/1M tokens |
| Output price | - | $2.34/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Function calling | No | Yes |
| Tool use | No | Yes |
| Structured outputs | No | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
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: Qwen3.5-397B-A17B, function calling: Qwen3.5-397B-A17B, tool use: Qwen3.5-397B-A17B, 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.
Pricing coverage is uneven: Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct has no token price sourced yet and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has $0.39/1M input tokens. Provider availability is 1 tracked routes versus 3. Treat unknown pricing as an integration gap, then verify the route you will actually call before estimating production spend.
Choose Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct when provider fit are central to the workload. Choose Qwen3.5-397B-A17B when reasoning depth, larger context windows, and broader provider choice 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, Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B supports 262K tokens, while Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct supports 4K tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Is Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B open source?
Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct is listed under 1. 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, Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct 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, Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B 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.
Which is better for function calling, Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct or Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has the clearer documented function calling signal in this comparison. If function calling is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B?
Llama 3.1 Swallow 70B Instruct is available on NVIDIA NIM. Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is available on OpenRouter, Together AI, and Alibaba Cloud PAI-EAS. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-05-11. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.