Hermes 4 405B vs o4-mini-deep-research vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking comes out ahead, 44 to 37 and 35 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Nous ResearchHermes 4 405B
35/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $3.00
- Context131K
OpenAIo4-mini-deep-research
37/100- ECI—
- Price$1.80 / $7.20
- Context200K
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
44/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $3.95
- Context131K
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is our pick
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is the better all-round choice, scoring 44/100 against o4-mini-deep-research (37) and Hermes 4 405B (35). It leads on price. o4-mini-deep-research wins on 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 235B A22B ThinkingQwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking $1.36 · Hermes 4 405B $1.50 · o4-mini-deep-research $3.15 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contexto4-mini-deep-researcho4-mini-deep-research 200,000 · Hermes 4 405B 131,072 · Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputso4-mini-deep-research and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingHermes 4 405B: Text · o4-mini-deep-research: Text, Images · Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking: Text, Images
- Self-hostingHermes 4 405B and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Hermes 4 405B | o4-mini-deep-research | Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 40 | 25 | 42 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 60 | 60 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 32 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 35/100 | 37/100 | 44/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Hermes 4 405BNous Research | o4-mini-deep-researchOpenAI | Qwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.00 | $1.80 | $0.50 (best) |
| Output | $3.00 (best) | $7.20 | $3.95 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.50 | $3.15 | $1.36 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 5 providers | Median of 1 providers | Median of 5 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 200,000 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 117,964 tokens (best) | 100,000 tokens | 32,768 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | — | — |
| API providers | 5 (best) | 1 | 5 (best) |
| Released | Aug 26, 2025 | Jun 26, 2025 | Sep 23, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Aug 31, 2024 | May 2024 | Mar 31, 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Hermes 4 405B$16.00
- o4-mini-deep-research$32.40
- Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking$12.90
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Hermes 4 405B, o4-mini-deep-research or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking?
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is the better all-round choice, scoring 44/100 against o4-mini-deep-research (37) and Hermes 4 405B (35). It leads on price. o4-mini-deep-research wins on 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, Hermes 4 405B, o4-mini-deep-research or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking?
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is cheaper at $0.50 input / $3.95 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). Hermes 4 405B costs $1.00 input / $3.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers); o4-mini-deep-research costs $1.80 input / $7.20 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.36 per million tokens for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking versus $1.50 for Hermes 4 405B (1.1× as much) and $3.15 for o4-mini-deep-research (2.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Hermes 4 405B has not been scored yet, o4-mini-deep-research has not been scored yet and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Hermes 4 405B, o4-mini-deep-research and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
o4-mini-deep-research has the largest context window at 200,000 tokens, against 131,072 for Hermes 4 405B and 131,072 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking. Maximum output per response: Hermes 4 405B up to 117,964, o4-mini-deep-research up to 100,000, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Hermes 4 405B accepts text; o4-mini-deep-research accepts text and images; Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking accepts text and images. o4-mini-deep-research handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Hermes 4 405B and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; o4-mini-deep-research is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is the newest, released Sep 23, 2025. Hermes 4 405B came out Aug 26, 2025; o4-mini-deep-research came out Jun 26, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Hermes 4 405B Aug 31, 2024, o4-mini-deep-research May 2024, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking Mar 31, 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.
