Model Comparison

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B vs MAI-Code-1-FlashWhich is better in 2026?

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Verdict: Qwen3.6-35B-A3B vs MAI-Code-1-Flash — which is better?

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) and MAI-Code-1-Flash (by Microsoft) 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.

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B outperforms in 5 benchmarks (AIME 2026, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, SWE-bench Multilingual, SWE-Bench Verified), while MAI-Code-1-Flash is better at 2 benchmarks (SWE-Bench Pro, Terminal-Bench 2.0). Qwen3.6-35B-A3B shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Choose Qwen3.6-35B-A3B if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 7 shared benchmarks
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose MAI-Code-1-Flash if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2026

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

7 benchmarks

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B outperforms in 5 benchmarks (AIME 2026, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, SWE-bench Multilingual, SWE-Bench Verified), while MAI-Code-1-Flash is better at 2 benchmarks (SWE-Bench Pro, Terminal-Bench 2.0).

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B supports multimodal inputs, whereas MAI-Code-1-Flash does not.

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

MAI-Code-1-Flash

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is licensed under Apache 2.0, while MAI-Code-1-Flash uses a proprietary license.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

MAI-Code-1-Flash

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B was released on 2026-04-16, while MAI-Code-1-Flash was released on 2026-06-02.

MAI-Code-1-Flash is 2 months newer than Qwen3.6-35B-A3B.

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B

Apr 16, 2026

3 months ago

MAI-Code-1-Flash

Jun 2, 2026

1 months ago

1mo 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

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Supports multimodal inputs
Has open weights
Higher AIME 2026 score (92.7% vs 92.5%)
Higher GPQA score (86.0% vs 84.6%)
Higher Humanity's Last Exam score (21.4% vs 18.0%)
Higher SWE-bench Multilingual score (67.2% vs 65.5%)
Higher SWE-Bench Verified score (73.4% vs 71.6%)
Microsoft
Higher SWE-Bench Pro score (51.2% vs 49.5%)
Higher Terminal-Bench 2.0 score (54.8% vs 51.5%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Qwen3.6-35B-A3B and MAI-Code-1-Flash side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
✓ Preferred
MAI-Code-1-Flash
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.6-35B-A3B
Microsoft
MAI-Code-1-Flash

FAQ

Common questions about Qwen3.6-35B-A3B vs MAI-Code-1-Flash.

Which is better, Qwen3.6-35B-A3B or MAI-Code-1-Flash?

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team and MAI-Code-1-Flash is made by Microsoft. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Qwen3.6-35B-A3B compare to MAI-Code-1-Flash in benchmarks?

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B scores MMLU-Redux: 93.3%, MMBench-V1.1: 92.8%, AI2D: 92.7%, AIME 2026: 92.7%, RefCOCO-avg: 92.0%. MAI-Code-1-Flash scores AIME 2026: 92.5%, GPQA: 84.6%, IFBench: 75.0%, Tau2 Telecom: 71.7%, SWE-Bench Verified: 71.6%.

What are the main differences between Qwen3.6-35B-A3B and MAI-Code-1-Flash?

Key differences include multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Apache 2.0 vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Qwen3.6-35B-A3B and MAI-Code-1-Flash?

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team and MAI-Code-1-Flash is developed by Microsoft.

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