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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B vs Qwen3 Coder Flash

ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B comes out ahead, 57 to 51 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Baidu

    ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B

    Released Jun 30, 2025

    57/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.07 / $0.28
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B

  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 Coder Flash

    Released Jul 28, 2025

    51/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.30 / $1.50
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 Coder Flash

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is our pick

ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Qwen3 Coder Flash (51). It leads on price. Qwen3 Coder Flash wins on 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 priceERNIE 4.5 21B A3BERNIE 4.5 21B A3B $0.122 · Qwen3 Coder Flash $0.60 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3 Coder FlashQwen3 Coder Flash 1,000,000 · ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsERNIE 4.5 21B A3B: Text · Qwen3 Coder Flash: Text
  • Self-hostingERNIE 4.5 21B A3BPublishes downloadable weights (Apache-2.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightERNIE 4.5 21B A3BQwen3 Coder Flash
Price50%8958
Inputs & features30%2535
Context window20%2560
Overall100%57/10051/100

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.

ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B vs Qwen3 Coder Flash specifications side by side
SpecificationERNIE 4.5 21B A3BBaiduQwen3 Coder FlashAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.07 (best)$0.30
Output$0.28 (best)$1.50
Cached input—$0.06
Blended (3:1)$0.122 (best)$0.60
Long-context rateSame rateOver 32K: $0.50 / $2.50
Price sourceMedian of 1 providersOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)
Max output8,000 tokens65,536 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenApache-2.0Proprietary
API model ID—qwen3-coder-flash
API providers110 (best)
ReleasedJun 30, 2025Jul 28, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Apr 2025
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.

  • ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B$1.26
  • Qwen3 Coder Flash$6.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B or Qwen3 Coder Flash?

ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Qwen3 Coder Flash (51). It leads on price. Qwen3 Coder Flash wins on 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, ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B or Qwen3 Coder Flash?

ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is cheaper at $0.07 input / $0.28 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Qwen3 Coder Flash costs $0.30 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.122 per million tokens for ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B versus $0.60 for Qwen3 Coder Flash (4.9× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B has not been scored yet and Qwen3 Coder Flash has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B and Qwen3 Coder Flash yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3 Coder Flash has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 131,072 for ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B. Maximum output per response: ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B up to 8,000, Qwen3 Coder Flash up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B accepts text; Qwen3 Coder Flash accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B publishes its weights (Apache-2.0) and can be self-hosted; Qwen3 Coder Flash is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3 Coder Flash is the newest, released Jul 28, 2025. ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B came out Jun 30, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 Coder Flash Apr 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 Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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