ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Gemini 2.5 Flash vs Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)

Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) comes out ahead, 72 to 68 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Google

    Gemini 2.5 Flash

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    68/100
    • ECI140.6
    • Price$0.30 / $2.50
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Flash
  2. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)

    Released Oct 15, 2025

    72/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.022 / $0.215
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) is our pick

Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Gemini 2.5 Flash (68). It leads on price. Gemini 2.5 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 priceQwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) $0.07 · Gemini 2.5 Flash $0.85 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 2.5 FlashGemini 2.5 Flash 1,048,576 · Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 2.5 FlashGemini 2.5 Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud): Text, Images
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 2.5 FlashQwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)
Price50%51100
Inputs & features30%10050
Context window20%6137
Overall100%68/10072/100

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.

Gemini 2.5 Flash vs Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 2.5 FlashGoogleQwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)Alibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)140.6—
ECI rank#110 of 165—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.30$0.022 (best)
Output$2.50$0.215 (best)
Cached input$0.03—
Blended (3:1)$0.85$0.07 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Google APIMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)262,144 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens (best)32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesNo
AudioYesNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDgemini-2.5-flash—
API providers32 (best)1
ReleasedJun 17, 2025Oct 15, 2025
Knowledge cutoffJan 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.

  • Gemini 2.5 Flash$8.00
  • Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)$0.65
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemini 2.5 Flash or Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)?

Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Gemini 2.5 Flash (68). It leads on price. Gemini 2.5 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, Gemini 2.5 Flash or Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)?

Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) is cheaper at $0.022 input / $0.215 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Gemini 2.5 Flash costs $0.30 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official Google API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.07 per million tokens for Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) versus $0.85 for Gemini 2.5 Flash (12× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Gemini 2.5 Flash has an ECI of 140.6 and Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 2.5 Flash and Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) 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?

Gemini 2.5 Flash has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud). Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.5 Flash up to 65,536, Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemini 2.5 Flash accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) accepts text and images. Gemini 2.5 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Gemini 2.5 Flash and Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) is the newest, released Oct 15, 2025. Gemini 2.5 Flash came out Jun 17, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash Jan 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

Related comparisons