Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite vs Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs 4.5x less per output token than Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 ($0.40 vs $1.80 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 13 benchmarks have a result for both.
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite or Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20: which to pick
Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 has a coding score, 39.5 on the Vibe Coding Index; Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite for output tokens 4.5x cheaper ($0.40 vs $1.80 per million) and a larger context window (1.05M against 1M tokens).
- Shared results
- 13
- Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite only
- 17
- Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 only
- 12
- Like-for-like categories
- 6 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
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
Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 has a coding score, so no call is made.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite has a AA Intelligence Index result, 10.4.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 leads, 87.4% against 70.2%.
Same board, both measured
Math
AIME
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 leads, 86.0% against 42.1%.
Same board, both measured
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 leads, 87.2% against 79.1%.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite takes 1.05M tokens against 1M.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite $0.0003, Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 $0.0012 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 has the number, $1.35.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite not benchmarked, Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 39.5 from 2 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- Math, 44.0 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- MMMU Pro (Vals AI): Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite 75.4% against Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 22.8%, 52.7 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite $0.40 against Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 $1.80 per million output tokens, 4.5x apart.
- Context window
- Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite takes 1.05M tokens, Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 1M.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Bars | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 1 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Reasoning | 1 | 1 | ||
| Math | 0 | 1 | ||
| Knowledge | 0 | 5 | ||
| General | 1 | 2 | ||
| All shared boards | 2 | 11 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index01
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 71.4% | 85.3% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | Not measured | 71.2% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 15.7% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 59.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 4.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ALE-Bench | Not measured | 608.9 | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 33 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 10.4 | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 133.8 | 146.2 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 19.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Vending-Bench 2 | Not measured | $1 | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard (BFCL) | 36.9% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 38 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index11
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 70.2% | 87.4% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| MMMU Pro (Vals AI) | 75.4% | 22.8% | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 62.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 6.8% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | Not measured | 84.8% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Chess puzzles | Not measured | 8.0% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | Not measured | 17.0% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 40.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 14 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | 42.1% | 86.0% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| MGSM (Vals AI) | 89.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| AA Math Index | 53.3 | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 53.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| OTIS Mock AIME | Not measured | 86.7% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index05
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 79.1% | 87.2% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 82.0% | 85.1% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| CaseLaw (Vals AI) | Not measured | 59.7% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 57.6% | 65.3% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 66.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | 57.6% | 60.8% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | 88.9% | 95.2% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | 34.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 75.9% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | Not measured | 25.4% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index12
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAGE (Vals AI) | 30.8% | 30.4% | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 75.8% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| IFBench | 49.9% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 55.7% | Not measured | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| DTBench | 62.8% | 80.5% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| LMCA | 18.1% | 36.4% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| CL-bench | Not measured | 19.8% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| CL-bench Life | Not measured | 12.4% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 38 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 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
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite 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 | Google Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Qwen | |
| Weights | No public weights listed | No public weights listed |
| Released | July 22, 2025 | April 27, 2026 |
| Context window | 1.05M | 1M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.10 | $0.30 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.40 | $1.80 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | 39.5 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 2 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | $1.35 |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite better than Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 for coding?
Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 has a coding score, 39.5 on the Vibe Coding Index; Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite for output tokens 4.5x cheaper ($0.40 vs $1.80 per million) and a larger context window (1.05M against 1M tokens).
Which is cheaper, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite or Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20?
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.40 per million output tokens; Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 costs $0.30 and $1.80. Cost per solved task is known for Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 only.
Which has the bigger context window, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite or Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20?
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite, with 1.05M tokens against 1M.
How many benchmarks is the Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite vs Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 comparison based on?
13 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20's on 2. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.