Codestral 2508 vs Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Codestral 2508 and Qwen3.6 35B A3B cost about the same per output token ($0.90 vs $1.00 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.90
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- 45.0
- Output $/M
- $1.00
Codestral 2508 or Qwen3.6 35B A3B: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Codestral 2508 for output tokens 1.1x cheaper ($0.90 vs $1.00 per million).
No benchmark has tested both yet. Codestral 2508 has results on ALE-Bench, Kagi LLM Benchmark and Design Arena: websites; Qwen3.6 35B A3B on AA Coding Index, SciCode and Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run). Compare them on price and context instead.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B has a AA Intelligence Index result, 18.2.
Directional only
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B has a AA Agentic Index result, 13.1.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Codestral 2508 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1013.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Qwen3.6 35B A3B takes 262K tokens against 256K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Codestral 2508 $0.0008, Qwen3.6 35B A3B $0.0006 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Codestral 2508 not benchmarked, Qwen3.6 35B A3B not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- None yet: no category has been tested on both models.
- Widest single gap
- None yet: no benchmark has tested both models.
- Output price
- Codestral 2508 $0.90 against Qwen3.6 35B A3B $1.00 per million output tokens, 1.1x apart.
- Context window
- Codestral 2508 takes 256K tokens, Qwen3.6 35B A3B 262K.
Benchmark by benchmark
Every board either model has a result on, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale. Only one model is measured on each, so no row names a leader.
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index6 boards measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3.6 35B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 41.9 | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 36.6% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 34.8% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| Terminal-Bench | Not measured | 24.6% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| WeirdML | Not measured | 34.5% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| ALE-Bench | 137.8 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 33 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3.6 35B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 18.2 | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 143.7 | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3.6 35B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 13.1 | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 95.3% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 39 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3.6 35B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 84.1% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 22.2% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | Not measured | 84.8% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | Not measured | 22.0% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 32.5% | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 17 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3.6 35B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME | Not measured | 86.7% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3 | Not measured | 20.4% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 11 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3.6 35B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1013 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1017 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 968 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1017 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1020 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1007 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 3 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3.6 35B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | Not measured | 64.4% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | Not measured | 71.7% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| DTBench | Not measured | 73.9% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 29.7% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| Surface Evolver Bench | Not measured | 44.4% | Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 41 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Qwen3.6 35B A3B costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Qwen3.6 35B A3B costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Qwen3.6 35B A3B costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Mistral Codestral 2508 | Qwen3.6 35B A3B |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Mistral AI | Qwen |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | August 1, 2025 | April 27, 2026 |
| Context window | 256K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.30 | $0.10 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.90 | $1.00 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Codestral 2508 better than Qwen3.6 35B A3B for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Codestral 2508 for output tokens 1.1x cheaper ($0.90 vs $1.00 per million).
Which is cheaper, Codestral 2508 or Qwen3.6 35B A3B?
Codestral 2508 costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $0.90 per million output tokens; Qwen3.6 35B A3B costs $0.10 and $1.00. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Codestral 2508 or Qwen3.6 35B A3B?
Qwen3.6 35B A3B, with 262K tokens against 256K.
Has any benchmark tested both Codestral 2508 and Qwen3.6 35B A3B?
No benchmark has tested both yet. Codestral 2508 has results on ALE-Bench, Kagi LLM Benchmark and Design Arena: websites; Qwen3.6 35B A3B on AA Coding Index, SciCode and Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run). Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 21, 2026.