Qwen3-235B-A22B vs Step 3.7 Flash
Qwen3-235B-A22B (2025) and Step 3.7 Flash (2026) are frontier reasoning models from Alibaba and StepFun. Qwen3-235B-A22B ships a 128k-token context window, while Step 3.7 Flash ships a 256k-token context window. On pricing, Qwen3-235B-A22B costs $0.09/1M input tokens versus $0.20/1M 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.
Qwen3-235B-A22B is ~122% cheaper at $0.09/1M; pay for Step 3.7 Flash only for reasoning depth.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Qwen3-235B-A22B | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | provider-routed production | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Long context | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 128k | 256k |
| Cheapest output | $0.58/1M tokens | $1.15/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 5 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Qwen3-235B-A22B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.58/1M tokens.
- Qwen3-235B-A22B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3-235B-A22B for Coding, RAG, and Long context.
- Step 3.7 Flash has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Step 3.7 Flash uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Step 3.7 Flash 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.
Qwen3-235B-A22B
$217
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Novita AI
Step 3.7 Flash
$448
Cheapest tracked route/tier: StepFun
Estimated monthly gap: $231. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Step 3.7 Flash is $0.57/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Step 3.7 Flash adds Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3-235B-A22B is $0.57/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-04-29 | 2026-05-29 |
| Context window | 128k | 256k |
| Parameters | 235B | 198B (11B active) |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Mixture of Experts |
| License | Apache 2.0OSI-approved | Proprietary |
| Openness | Open source | Proprietary |
| Weights | Unknown | Not released |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Qwen3-235B-A22B | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.09/1M tokens | $0.20/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.58/1M tokens | $1.15/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Qwen3-235B-A22B | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| JSON / Tool use | No | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | 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.