DeepSeek VL2 Small vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
DeepSeek · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
DeepSeek VL2 Small outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is better at 5 benchmarks (AI2D, MMBench-V1.1, MMStar, OCRBench, RealWorldQA). Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose DeepSeek VL2 Small
- you are already invested in the DeepSeek ecosystem
Choose Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 5 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
DeepSeek VL2 Small outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is better at 5 benchmarks (AI2D, MMBench-V1.1, MMStar, OCRBench, RealWorldQA).
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind preference scores
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking has 220.0B more parameters than DeepSeek VL2 Small, making it 1375.0% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking specifies input context (262,144 tokens). Only Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking specifies output context (262,144 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both DeepSeek VL2 Small and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
DeepSeek VL2 Small
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek VL2 Small is licensed under deepseek, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
deepseek
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
DeepSeek VL2 Small was released on 2024-12-13, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is 9 months newer than DeepSeek VL2 Small.
Dec 13, 2024
1.7 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
11 months ago
9mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek VL2 Small and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek VL2 Small vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking.