DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B vs Qwen3 235B A22B
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B and Qwen3 235B A22B are closely matched at 13.1 and 15.6 on the LLM Stats Score. Qwen3 235B A22B is 1.4x cheaper per token.
DeepSeek · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B and Qwen3 235B A22B are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 13.1 and 15.6.
In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3 235B A22B wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3 235B A22B is roughly 1.4x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
- you want predictable pricing at $0.12/M input and $0.18/M output
Choose Qwen3 235B A22B
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 3 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 1.4x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
4 reported for DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B · 23 for Qwen3 235B A22B
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Qwen3 235B A22B is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2024, LiveCodeBench).
Qwen3 235B A22B shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B ($0.12/1M tokens) is 1.2x more expensive than Qwen3 235B A22B ($0.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B ($0.18/1M tokens) is 1.8x more expensive than Qwen3 235B A22B ($0.10/1M tokens).
In conclusion, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B is more expensive than Qwen3 235B A22B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 235B A22B has 202.2B more parameters than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B, making it 616.5% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 128,000 tokens. Both models can generate responses up to 128,000 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3 235B A22B uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B was released on 2025-01-20, while Qwen3 235B A22B was released on 2025-04-29.
Qwen3 235B A22B is 3 months newer than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B.
Jan 20, 2025
1.7 years ago
Apr 29, 2025
1.4 years ago
3mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B is available from DeepInfra. Qwen3 235B A22B is available from Fireworks, DeepInfra, Novita, Together.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Qwen3 235B A22B
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B and Qwen3 235B A22B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B vs Qwen3 235B A22B.