Qwen Flash vs o3-deep-research
Qwen Flash comes out ahead, 69 to 24 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Flash
69/100- ECI—
- Price$0.05 / $0.40
- Context1M
OpenAIo3-deep-research
24/100- ECI—
- Price$9.00 / $36.00
- Context200K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Qwen Flash is our pick
Qwen Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against o3-deep-research (24). It leads on price and context window. o3-deep-research wins on inputs & features. 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 priceQwen FlashQwen Flash $0.138 · o3-deep-research $15.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen FlashQwen Flash 1,000,000 · o3-deep-research 200,000 tokens
- Widest inputso3-deep-researchQwen Flash: Text · o3-deep-research: Text, Images
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Qwen Flash | o3-deep-research |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 87 | 0 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 45 | 60 |
| Context window | 20% | 60 | 32 |
| Overall | 100% | 69/100 | 24/100 |
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 | Qwen FlashAlibaba (Qwen) | o3-deep-researchOpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.05 (best) | $9.00 |
| Output | $0.40 (best) | $36.00 |
| Cached input | $0.01 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.138 (best) | $15.75 |
| Long-context rate | Over 256K: $0.25 / $2.00 | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 200,000 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 100,000 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwen-flash | — |
| API providers | 6 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Jul 28, 2025 | Jun 26, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | May 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Qwen Flash$1.30
- o3-deep-research$162.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen Flash or o3-deep-research?
Qwen Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against o3-deep-research (24). It leads on price and context window. o3-deep-research wins on inputs & features. 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, Qwen Flash or o3-deep-research?
Qwen Flash is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). o3-deep-research costs $9.00 input / $36.00 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.138 per million tokens for Qwen Flash versus $15.75 for o3-deep-research (115× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen Flash has not been scored yet and o3-deep-research has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen Flash and o3-deep-research 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?
Qwen Flash has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 200,000 for o3-deep-research. Maximum output per response: Qwen Flash up to 32,768, o3-deep-research up to 100,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen Flash accepts text; o3-deep-research accepts text and images. o3-deep-research handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Qwen Flash and o3-deep-research are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Qwen Flash is the newest, released Jul 28, 2025. o3-deep-research came out Jun 26, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen Flash Apr 2024, o3-deep-research May 2024.
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.
