Phi 3.5 Vision Instruct vs Qwen3-235B-A22B
Phi 3.5 Vision Instruct (2024) and Qwen3-235B-A22B (2025) are compact production models from Microsoft Research and Alibaba. Both ship a 128k-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing. The goal is to make the tradeoff clear before deeper testing.
Qwen3-235B-A22B is safer overall; choose Phi 3.5 Vision Instruct when vision-heavy evaluation matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Phi 3.5 Vision Instruct | Qwen3-235B-A22B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps | provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Long context and Vision | Coding, RAG, and Long context |
| Context window | 128k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | - | $0.58/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 0 tracked | 5 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Phi 3.5 Vision Instruct uniquely exposes Vision and Multimodal in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Phi 3.5 Vision Instruct for Long context and Vision.
- Qwen3-235B-A22B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Qwen3-235B-A22B uniquely exposes Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3-235B-A22B for Coding, RAG, and Long context.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Phi 3.5 Vision Instruct
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Qwen3-235B-A22B
$217
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Novita AI
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Phi 3.5 Vision Instruct and Qwen3-235B-A22B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision and Multimodal before moving production traffic.
- Qwen3-235B-A22B adds Structured outputs in local capability data.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Qwen3-235B-A22B and Phi 3.5 Vision Instruct; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- Phi 3.5 Vision Instruct adds Vision and Multimodal in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2024-08-20 | 2025-04-29 |
| Context window | 128k | 128k |
| Parameters | 4.1B | 235B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | MITOSI-approved | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open source | Open source |
| Weights | Unknown | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2023-10 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Phi 3.5 Vision Instruct | Qwen3-235B-A22B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | - | $0.09/1M tokens |
| Output price | - | $0.58/1M tokens |
| Providers | - |
Capabilities
| Capability | Phi 3.5 Vision Instruct | Qwen3-235B-A22B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | No | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.