Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 vs Qwen3.5-9B
Qwen3.5-9B leads Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 13.3 to 12.0, and Qwen3.5-9B costs 5.2x less per output token ($0.15 vs $0.775 per million). Updated October 23, 2026; 10 benchmarks have a result for both.
Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 or Qwen3.5-9B: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 for work measured by Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) or AA Intelligence Index, where it leads.
- Shared results
- 10
- Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 only
- 14
- Qwen3.5-9B only
- 6
- Like-for-like categories
- 5 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
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Qwen3.5-9B
Qwen3.5-9B leads, 13.3 against 12.0.
Same board, both measured
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1058.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
No call
Both take 262K tokens.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Qwen3.5-9B
Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 $0.0005, Qwen3.5-9B $0.0002 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 not benchmarked, Qwen3.5-9B not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Agentic work, 33.6 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- τ²-Bench Telecom: Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 53.2% against Qwen3.5-9B 86.8%, 33.6 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 $0.775 against Qwen3.5-9B $0.15 per million output tokens, 5.2x apart.
- Context window
- Both take 262K tokens.
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 | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 | Bars | Qwen3.5-9B | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 1 | 1 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 1 | ||
| Reasoning | 1 | 1 | ||
| General | 2 | 2 | ||
| All shared boards | 4 | 6 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index11
| Benchmark | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 | Qwen3.5-9B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 23.5 | Only Qwen3.5-9B measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 78.8% | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| SciCode | 41.4% | 29.5% | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 15.2% | 24.2% | Qwen3.5-9B |
| Terminal-Bench | Not measured | 9.2% | Only Qwen3.5-9B measured |
| WeirdML | 38.7% | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 37 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 | Qwen3.5-9B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 12.0 | 13.3 | Qwen3.5-9B |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 139.3 | Only Qwen3.5-9B measured |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 | Qwen3.5-9B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 53.2% | 86.8% | Qwen3.5-9B |
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard (BFCL) | 52.1% | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index11
| Benchmark | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 | Qwen3.5-9B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 79.0% | 80.6% | Qwen3.5-9B |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 15.9% | 14.9% | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | Not measured | 79.0% | Only Qwen3.5-9B measured |
| ARC-AGI | 11.0% | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| ARC-AGI-2 | 1.3% | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 18 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 | Qwen3.5-9B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | 91.0 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 91.0% | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| OTIS Mock AIME | Not measured | 61.7% | Only Qwen3.5-9B measured |
| MathArena | Not measured | 13.0% | Only Qwen3.5-9B measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 10 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 | Qwen3.5-9B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 84.3% | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 | Qwen3.5-9B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1058 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 963 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 951 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1070 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 995 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1038 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 3 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index22
| Benchmark | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 | Qwen3.5-9B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 51.2% | 66.7% | Qwen3.5-9B |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 72.0% | 70.0% | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 |
| DTBench | 78.4% | 71.2% | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 |
| LMCA | 23.5% | 24.5% | Qwen3.5-9B |
| Neither model has a result on the other 44 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 | Qwen3.5-9B | 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
Qwen3.5-9B costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Qwen3.5-9B costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Qwen3.5-9B 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 | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 | Qwen3.5-9B |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Qwen | Qwen |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | July 21, 2025 | March 10, 2026 |
| Context window | 262K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.145 | $0.10 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.775 | $0.15 |
| 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 Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 better than Qwen3.5-9B for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 for work measured by Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) or AA Intelligence Index, where it leads.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 or Qwen3.5-9B?
Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 costs $0.145 per million input tokens and $0.775 per million output tokens; Qwen3.5-9B costs $0.10 and $0.15. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 or Qwen3.5-9B?
Neither: both take 262K tokens.
How many benchmarks is the Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 vs Qwen3.5-9B comparison based on?
10 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 23, 2026. Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Qwen3.5-9B's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.