Qwen3.5-397B-A17B vs Qwen3.5-Flash
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B (2026) and Qwen3.5-Flash (2026) are frontier reasoning models from Alibaba. Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ships a 262k-token context window, while Qwen3.5-Flash ships a 1m-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Qwen3.5-397B-A17B leads by 2.5 pts. On pricing, Qwen3.5-Flash costs $0.07/1M input tokens versus $0.39/1M 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-Flash is ~457% cheaper at $0.07/1M; pay for Qwen3.5-397B-A17B only for reasoning depth.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B | Qwen3.5-Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents | multimodal apps, long-context analysis, and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Long context, Vision, and Classification |
| Context window | 262k | 1m |
| Cheapest output | $2.34/1M tokens | $0.26/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 4 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | MMLU PRO leader | 2 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 2.5 points.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B uniquely exposes Reasoning, JSON / Tool use, and Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3.5-397B-A17B for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Qwen3.5-Flash has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Qwen3.5-Flash has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.26/1M tokens.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3.5-Flash for Long context, Vision, and Classification.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
$897
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Qwen3.5-Flash
$121
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $776. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on Alibaba Cloud PAI-EAS and OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3.5-Flash is $2.08/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning, JSON / Tool use, and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Alibaba Cloud PAI-EAS; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is $2.08/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B adds Reasoning, JSON / Tool use, and Structured outputs in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-02-16 | 2026-02-23 |
| Context window | 262k | 1m |
| Parameters | 397B | — |
| Architecture | Mixture of Experts | - |
| License | Apache 2.0OSI-approved | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open source | Open source |
| Weights | Available | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B | Qwen3.5-Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.39/1M tokens | $0.07/1M tokens |
| Output price | $2.34/1M tokens | $0.26/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B | Qwen3.5-Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | No |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B | Qwen3.5-Flash |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 87.8 | 85.3 |
| Google-Proof Q&A | 89.3 | 84.2 |
Continue comparing
Popular comparisons for Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Popular comparisons for Qwen3.5-Flash
Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.