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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek-V3.1 vs Qwen3.5 9B

Qwen3.5 9B comes out ahead, 72 to 55 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek-V3.1

    Released Aug 21, 2025

    55/100
    • ECI139.9
    • Price$0.385 / $1.25
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek-V3.1
  2. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.5 9B

    Released Feb 23, 2026

    72/100
    • ECI139.5
    • Price$0.10 / $0.15
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.5 9B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3.5 9B is our pick

Qwen3.5 9B is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against DeepSeek-V3.1 (55). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek-V3.1Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-V3.1 139.9 · Qwen3.5 9B 139.5
  • Lowest priceQwen3.5 9BQwen3.5 9B $0.113 · DeepSeek-V3.1 $0.601 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.5 9BQwen3.5 9B 262,144 · DeepSeek-V3.1 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.5 9BDeepSeek-V3.1: Text · Qwen3.5 9B: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek-V3.1Qwen3.5 9B
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6565
Price25%6095
Inputs & features15%3580
Context window10%2437
Overall100%55/10072/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

DeepSeek-V3.1 vs Qwen3.5 9B specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek-V3.1DeepSeekQwen3.5 9BAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)139.9 (best)139.5
ECI rank#100 of 148 (best)#101 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—79.0%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—61.7%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.385$0.10 (best)
Output$1.25$0.15 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.601$0.113 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 8 providersMedian of 14 providers
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens262,144 tokens (best)
Max output8,192 tokens65,536 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenMIT LicenseOpen
API model ID——
API providers815 (best)
ReleasedAug 21, 2025Feb 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-V3.1$6.35
  • Qwen3.5 9B$1.30
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek-V3.1 or Qwen3.5 9B?

Qwen3.5 9B is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against DeepSeek-V3.1 (55). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-V3.1 or Qwen3.5 9B?

Qwen3.5 9B is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 14 API providers). DeepSeek-V3.1 costs $0.385 input / $1.25 output per million tokens (median across 8 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.113 per million tokens for Qwen3.5 9B versus $0.601 for DeepSeek-V3.1 (5.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek-V3.1 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-V3.1 139.9 (#100 of 148) and Qwen3.5 9B 139.5 (#101 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (136.1–143.3 vs 136.5–141.3), so treat the gap as small.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek-V3.1 and Qwen3.5 9B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek-V3.1 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.5 9B has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for DeepSeek-V3.1. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek-V3.1 up to 8,192, Qwen3.5 9B up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek-V3.1 accepts text; Qwen3.5 9B accepts text, images and video. Qwen3.5 9B handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (MIT License), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.5 9B is the newest, released Feb 23, 2026. DeepSeek-V3.1 came out Aug 21, 2025.

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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