LLM Reference

Qwen3.6-27B vs Qwen3.6-35B-A3B

Qwen3.6-27B (2026) and Qwen3.6-35B-A3B (2026) are agentic coding models from Alibaba. Qwen3.6-27B ships a 262k-token context window, while Qwen3.6-35B-A3B ships a 262k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Qwen3.6-27B leads by 1 pts. On pricing, Qwen3.6-35B-A3B costs $0.15/1M input tokens versus $0.32/1M 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.

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is ~113% cheaper at $0.15/1M; pay for Qwen3.6-27B only for coding workflow support.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalQwen3.6-27BQwen3.6-35B-A3B
Best forcustom coding agents, code generation, and tool loopscustom coding agents, code generation, and tool loops
Decision fitCoding, RAG, and AgentsCoding, RAG, and Agents
Context window262k262k
Cheapest output$3.20/1M tokens$1/1M tokens
Provider routes4 tracked2 tracked
Shared benchmarksMMLU PRO leader7 shared

Decision tradeoffs

Choose Qwen3.6-27B when...
  • Qwen3.6-27B holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 1 points.
  • Qwen3.6-27B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
  • Qwen3.6-27B uniquely exposes Reasoning in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags Qwen3.6-27B for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Choose Qwen3.6-35B-A3B when...
  • Qwen3.6-35B-A3B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $1/1M tokens.
  • Local decision data tags Qwen3.6-35B-A3B 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.

Lower estimate Qwen3.6-35B-A3B

Qwen3.6-27B

$1,056

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B

$370

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Estimated monthly gap: $686. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

Qwen3.6-27B -> Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
  • Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Novita AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is $2.20/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
  • Check replacement coverage for Reasoning before moving production traffic.
Qwen3.6-35B-A3B -> Qwen3.6-27B
  • Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Novita AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • Qwen3.6-27B is $2.20/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
  • Qwen3.6-27B adds Reasoning in local capability data.

Specs

Specification
Released2026-04-272026-04-16
Context window262k262k
Parameters27B35B
ArchitectureDecoder OnlyMixture of Experts
LicenseApache 2.0OSI-approvedApache 2.0OSI-approved
OpennessOpen sourceOpen source
WeightsAvailableAvailable
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: permittedCommercial use: permitted
Knowledge cutoff--

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeQwen3.6-27BQwen3.6-35B-A3B
Input price$0.32/1M tokens$0.15/1M tokens
Output price$3.20/1M tokens$1/1M tokens
Providers
OpenRouterAlibaba Cloud PAI-EASVercel AI GatewayNovita AI
OpenRouterNovita AI

Capabilities

CapabilityQwen3.6-27BQwen3.6-35B-A3B
VisionYesYes
MultimodalYesYes
ReasoningYesNo
JSON / Tool useYesYes
Structured outputsNoNo
Code executionNoNo
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useNoNo
Parallel agentsNoNo

Benchmarks

BenchmarkQwen3.6-27BQwen3.6-35B-A3B
MMLU PRO86.285.2
SWE-bench Verified77.273.4
SWE-bench Pro53.549.5
Google-Proof Q&A87.886.0
LiveCodeBench83.980.4
AIME 202694.192.7
MMMU Pro75.875.3

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Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.