Model Comparison
Jamba 1.5 Mini vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Jamba 1.5 Mini is 2.4x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Jamba 1.5 Mini vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct — which is better?
Jamba 1.5 Mini (by AI21 Labs) 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.
Jamba 1.5 Mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is better at 2 benchmarks (MMLU, MMLU-Pro). Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Jamba 1.5 Mini is roughly 2.4x 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 Jamba 1.5 Mini if…
- cost matters — it's about 2.4x cheaper per token
Choose Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
- you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Jamba 1.5 Mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is better at 2 benchmarks (MMLU, MMLU-Pro).
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Jamba 1.5 Mini ($0.20/1M tokens) is 1.5x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct ($0.30/1M tokens).
For output processing, Jamba 1.5 Mini ($0.40/1M tokens) is 3.7x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct ($1.49/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is more expensive than Jamba 1.5 Mini.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct has 184.0B more parameters than Jamba 1.5 Mini, making it 353.8% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Jamba 1.5 Mini's 256,144 tokens. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Jamba 1.5 Mini is limited to 256,144 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas Jamba 1.5 Mini does not.
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Jamba 1.5 Mini
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Jamba 1.5 Mini is licensed under Jamba Open Model License, 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.
Jamba Open Model License
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Jamba 1.5 Mini was released on 2024-08-22, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is 13 months newer than Jamba 1.5 Mini.
Aug 22, 2024
1.9 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
10 months ago
1.1yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Jamba 1.5 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-03-05, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Jamba 1.5 Mini's training data extends to 2024-03-05, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct's cutoff date.
Mar 2024
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Provider Availability
Jamba 1.5 Mini is available from Bedrock, Google. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Novita.
Jamba 1.5 Mini
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Jamba 1.5 Mini
View detailsAI21 Labs
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Jamba 1.5 Mini and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Jamba 1.5 Mini vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct.