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Qwen3 235B A22B vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct leads the LLM Stats Score 24.7 to 15.6. Qwen3 235B A22B is 3.7x cheaper per token.

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct leads the overall LLM Stats Score 24.7 to 15.6, ranking #161 overall.

In the 7 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct wins 6; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, Qwen3 235B A22B is roughly 3.7x 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.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Qwen3 235B A22B

  • cost matters — it's about 3.7x cheaper per token

Choose Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

  • overall performance matters — it scores 24.7 and ranks #161 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 6 of 7 exact shared results
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Core performance indexes
15.6
#228
24.7
#161
16.2
#216
22.5
#169
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
1 of 7
6 of 7
Input price
$0.10 / M
$0.20 / M
Output price
$0.10 / M
$0.88 / M
Context window
128,000
262,144

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

3 shared
Index
Qwen3 235B A22B
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
20.9#154
23.8#124
14.5#127
25.9#54
14.5#109
27.0#29
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

23 reported for Qwen3 235B A22B · 50 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

7 shared

Qwen3 235B A22B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (AIME 2025), while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is better at 6 benchmarks (Include, MMLU, MMLU-Pro, MMLU-Redux, MultiPL-E, SuperGPQA).

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sun Sep 13 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Qwen3 235B A22B costs less

For input processing, Qwen3 235B A22B ($0.10/1M tokens) is 2.0x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens).

For output processing, Qwen3 235B A22B ($0.10/1M tokens) is 8.8x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct ($0.88/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is more expensive than Qwen3 235B A22B.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Sun Sep 13 2026 • llm-stats.com
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 235B A22B
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.10
Best providerFireworks
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
Input tokens$0.20
Output tokens$0.88
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

1.0B diff

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct has 1.0B more parameters than Qwen3 235B A22B, making it 0.4% larger.

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 235B A22B
235.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
236.0Bparameters
235.0B
Qwen3 235B A22B
236.0B
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Qwen3 235B A22B's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Qwen3 235B A22B is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 235B A22B
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
Input262,144 tokens
Output262,144 tokens
Sun Sep 13 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3 235B A22B does not.

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Qwen3 235B A22B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.

Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.

Qwen3 235B A22B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Qwen3 235B A22B was released on 2025-04-29, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is 5 months newer than Qwen3 235B A22B.

Qwen3 235B A22B

Apr 29, 2025

1.4 years ago

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

Sep 22, 2025

11 months ago

4mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Qwen3 235B A22B is available from Fireworks, DeepInfra, Novita, Together. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Novita.

Qwen3 235B A22B

fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.10/1M
deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M
novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.80/1M
together logo
Together
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.88/1M
novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Qwen3 235B A22B and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Qwen3 235B A22B
✓ Preferred
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Qwen3 235B A22B vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct.

Which is better, Qwen3 235B A22B or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct leads the LLM Stats Score 24.7 to 15.6. Qwen3 235B A22B is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Qwen3 235B A22B compare to Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct in benchmarks?

Qwen3 235B A22B scores Arena Hard: 95.6%, GSM8k: 94.4%, BBH: 88.9%, MMLU: 87.8%, MMLU-Redux: 87.4%. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct scores DocVQAtest: 97.1%, ScreenSpot: 95.4%, MMLU-Redux: 92.2%, OCRBench: 92.0%, MMBench-V1.1: 89.9%.

Is Qwen3 235B A22B cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

Qwen3 235B A22B is 2.0x cheaper for input tokens. Qwen3 235B A22B costs $0.10/M input and $0.10/M output via fireworks. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct costs $0.20/M input and $0.88/M output via deepinfra.

What are the context window sizes for Qwen3 235B A22B and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

Qwen3 235B A22B supports 128K tokens and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Qwen3 235B A22B and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (15.6 vs 24.7), context window (128K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.10 vs $0.20/M), multimodal support (no vs yes). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.