Qwen Max vs solar-mini vs Vision Small
Vision Small comes out ahead, 61 to 50 and 24 on our weighted score, though solar-mini is 11× cheaper per token.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Max
24/100- ECI—
- Price$1.60 / $6.40
- Context33K
Upstagesolar-mini
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context33K
- Our pick
VisparkVision Small
61/100- ECI—
- Price$1.05 / $3.16
- Context1M
Vision Small is our pick
Vision Small is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against solar-mini (50) and Qwen Max (24). It leads on inputs & features and context window. solar-mini 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 pricesolar-minisolar-mini $0.15 · Vision Small $1.58 · Qwen Max $2.80 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextVision SmallVision Small 1,000,000 · Qwen Max 32,768 · solar-mini 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsVision SmallQwen Max: Text · solar-mini: Text · Vision Small: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Qwen Max | solar-mini | Vision Small |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 27 | 85 | 39 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 25 | 100 |
| Context window | 20% | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 24/100 | 50/100 | 61/100 |
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 MaxAlibaba (Qwen) | solar-miniUpstage | Vision SmallVispark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.60 | $0.15 (best) | $1.05 |
| Output | $6.40 | $0.15 (best) | $3.16 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $2.80 | $0.15 (best) | $1.58 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Upstage API | Official Vispark API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 32,768 tokens | 32,768 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 4,096 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | Yes |
| Video | No | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwen-max | solar-mini | vispark/vision-small |
| API providers | 8 (best) | 1 | 1 |
| Released | Apr 3, 2024 | Jun 12, 2024 | May 15, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | Sep 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 Max$28.80
- solar-mini$1.80
- Vision Small$16.82
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen Max, solar-mini or Vision Small?
Vision Small is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against solar-mini (50) and Qwen Max (24). It leads on inputs & features and context window. solar-mini 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, Qwen Max, solar-mini or Vision Small?
solar-mini is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Upstage API price). Vision Small costs $1.05 input / $3.16 output per million tokens (official Vispark API price); Qwen Max costs $1.60 input / $6.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for solar-mini versus $1.58 for Vision Small (11× as much) and $2.80 for Qwen Max (19× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen Max has not been scored yet, solar-mini has not been scored yet and Vision Small has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen Max, solar-mini and Vision Small 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?
Vision Small has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 32,768 for Qwen Max and 32,768 for solar-mini. Maximum output per response: Qwen Max up to 8,192, solar-mini up to 4,096, Vision Small up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen Max accepts text; solar-mini accepts text; Vision Small accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Vision Small handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Qwen Max, solar-mini and Vision Small are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
solar-mini is the newest, released Jun 12, 2024. Vision Small came out May 15, 2024; Qwen Max came out Apr 3, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen Max Apr 2024, solar-mini Sep 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.
