Hermes 4 405B vs Palmyra X5 vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
Palmyra X5 comes out ahead, 47 to 44 and 35 on our weighted score, though Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is 30% cheaper per token.
Nous ResearchHermes 4 405B
35/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $3.00
- Context131K
- Our pick
Writer
Palmyra X5
47/100- ECI—
- Price$0.60 / $6.00
- Context1M
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
44/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $3.95
- Context131K
Palmyra X5 is our pick
Palmyra X5 is the better all-round choice, scoring 47/100 against Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking (44) and Hermes 4 405B (35). It leads on context window. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking wins on price. 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 · Palmyra X5 $1.95 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextPalmyra X5Palmyra X5 1,000,000 · Hermes 4 405B 131,072 · Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsPalmyra X5 and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingHermes 4 405B: Text · Palmyra X5: 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 | Palmyra X5 | Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 40 | 35 | 42 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 60 | 60 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 60 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 35/100 | 47/100 | 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 | Palmyra X5Writer | Qwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.00 | $0.60 | $0.50 (best) |
| Output | $3.00 (best) | $6.00 | $3.95 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.50 | $1.95 | $1.36 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 5 providers | Median of 4 providers | Median of 5 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 117,964 tokens (best) | 8,192 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) | 4 | 5 (best) |
| Released | Aug 26, 2025 | Apr 28, 2025 | Sep 23, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Aug 31, 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
- Palmyra X5$18.00
- Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking$12.90
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Hermes 4 405B, Palmyra X5 or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking?
Palmyra X5 is the better all-round choice, scoring 47/100 against Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking (44) and Hermes 4 405B (35). It leads on context window. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking wins on price. 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, Palmyra X5 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); Palmyra X5 costs $0.60 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). 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 $1.95 for Palmyra X5 (1.4× 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, Palmyra X5 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, Palmyra X5 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?
Palmyra X5 has the largest context window at 1,000,000 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, Palmyra X5 up to 8,192, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Hermes 4 405B accepts text; Palmyra X5 accepts text and images; Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking accepts text and images. Palmyra X5 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; Palmyra X5 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; Palmyra X5 came out Apr 28, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Hermes 4 405B Aug 31, 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.
