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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek OCR 2 vs Qwen3.5 35B-A3B

Qwen3.5 35B-A3B comes out ahead, 63 to 32 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek OCR 2

    Released Jan 27, 2026

    32/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.89 / $1.47
    • Context8K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek OCR 2
  2. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.5 35B-A3B

    Released Feb 23, 2026

    63/100
    • ECI142.5
    • Price$0.25 / $2.00
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.5 35B-A3B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3.5 35B-A3B is our pick

Qwen3.5 35B-A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against DeepSeek OCR 2 (32). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

  • CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
  • Lowest priceQwen3.5 35B-A3BQwen3.5 35B-A3B $0.688 · DeepSeek OCR 2 $1.03 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.5 35B-A3BQwen3.5 35B-A3B 262,144 · DeepSeek OCR 2 8,192 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.5 35B-A3BDeepSeek OCR 2: Text, Images · Qwen3.5 35B-A3B: Text, Images, Audio, Video
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek OCR 2Qwen3.5 35B-A3B
Price50%4958
Inputs & features30%2590
Context window20%037
Overall100%32/10063/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

DeepSeek OCR 2 vs Qwen3.5 35B-A3B specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek OCR 2DeepSeekQwen3.5 35B-A3BAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—142.5
ECI rank—#88 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—83.5%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—70.0%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.89$0.25 (best)
Output$1.47 (best)$2.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$1.03$0.688 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 1 providersOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window8,192 tokens262,144 tokens (best)
Max output8,192 tokens65,536 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoYes
VideoNoYes
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingNoYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID—qwen3.5-35b-a3b
API providers218 (best)
ReleasedJan 27, 2026Feb 23, 2026
Knowledge cutoff——
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • DeepSeek OCR 2$11.83
  • Qwen3.5 35B-A3B$6.50
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek OCR 2 or Qwen3.5 35B-A3B?

Qwen3.5 35B-A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against DeepSeek OCR 2 (32). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek OCR 2 or Qwen3.5 35B-A3B?

Qwen3.5 35B-A3B is cheaper at $0.25 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). DeepSeek OCR 2 costs $0.89 input / $1.47 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.688 per million tokens for Qwen3.5 35B-A3B versus $1.03 for DeepSeek OCR 2 (1.5× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. DeepSeek OCR 2 has not been scored yet and Qwen3.5 35B-A3B has an ECI of 142.5.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek OCR 2 and Qwen3.5 35B-A3B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that DeepSeek OCR 2 does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.5 35B-A3B has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 8,192 for DeepSeek OCR 2. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek OCR 2 up to 8,192, Qwen3.5 35B-A3B up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek OCR 2 accepts text and images; Qwen3.5 35B-A3B accepts text, images, audio and video. Qwen3.5 35B-A3B handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.5 35B-A3B is the newest, released Feb 23, 2026. DeepSeek OCR 2 came out Jan 27, 2026.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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