Model Comparison
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) is 1.9x cheaper per token.
Verdict: DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct — which is better?
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) (by DeepSeek) and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks. DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) is roughly 1.9x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 1.9x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025
Choose Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct if…
- you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) ($0.28/1M tokens) is 1.1x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct ($0.30/1M tokens).
For output processing, DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) ($0.42/1M tokens) is 3.5x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct ($1.49/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is more expensive than DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking).*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) has 449.0B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct, making it 190.3% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking)'s 131,072 tokens. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) is limited to 65,536 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) does not.
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking)
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct 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-V3.2 (Thinking) was released on 2025-12-01, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) is 2 months newer than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct.
Dec 1, 2025
7 months ago
2mo newerSep 22, 2025
10 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) is available from DeepSeek. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Novita.
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking)
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct.