Qwen-MT Plus vs Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct vs Sonar Deep Research
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct comes out ahead, 28 to 20 and 12 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen-MT Plus
12/100- ECI—
- Price$2.46 / $7.37
- Context16K
- Our pickAlibaba (Qwen)
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct
28/100- ECI—
- Price$1.50 / $7.50
- Context262K
PerplexitySonar Deep Research
20/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $8.00
- Context128K
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is our pick
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 28/100 against Sonar Deep Research (20) and Qwen-MT Plus (12). It leads on price, 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-Coder 480B-A35B InstructQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct $3.00 · Sonar Deep Research $3.50 · Qwen-MT Plus $3.69 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct 262,144 · Sonar Deep Research 128,000 · Qwen-MT Plus 16,384 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsQwen-MT Plus: Text · Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct: Text · Sonar Deep Research: Text
- Self-hostingQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Qwen-MT Plus | Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct | Sonar Deep Research |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 23 | 27 | 24 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 0 | 25 | 10 |
| Context window | 20% | 0 | 37 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 12/100 | 28/100 | 20/100 |
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-MT PlusAlibaba (Qwen) | Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructAlibaba (Qwen) | Sonar Deep ResearchPerplexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $2.46 | $1.50 (best) | $2.00 |
| Output | $7.37 (best) | $7.50 | $8.00 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.69 | $3.00 (best) | $3.50 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Over 32K: $2.70 / $13.50 | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Alibaba API | Official Perplexity API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 16,384 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | Yesminimal · low · medium · high |
| Tool calling | No | Yes | No |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwen-mt-plus | qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct | sonar-deep-research |
| API providers | 1 | 7 (best) | 3 |
| Released | Jan 2025 | Apr 2025 | Feb 1, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | Apr 2025 | Jan 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Qwen-MT Plus$39.34
- Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct$30.00
- Sonar Deep Research$36.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen-MT Plus, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct or Sonar Deep Research?
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 28/100 against Sonar Deep Research (20) and Qwen-MT Plus (12). It leads on price, 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, Qwen-MT Plus, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct or Sonar Deep Research?
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is cheaper at $1.50 input / $7.50 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Sonar Deep Research costs $2.00 input / $8.00 output per million tokens (official Perplexity API price); Qwen-MT Plus costs $2.46 input / $7.37 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $3.00 per million tokens for Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct versus $3.50 for Sonar Deep Research (1.2× as much) and $3.69 for Qwen-MT Plus (1.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen-MT Plus has not been scored yet, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct has not been scored yet and Sonar Deep Research has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen-MT Plus, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct and Sonar Deep Research yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Qwen-MT Plus and Sonar Deep Research does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 128,000 for Sonar Deep Research and 16,384 for Qwen-MT Plus. Maximum output per response: Qwen-MT Plus up to 8,192, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct up to 65,536, Sonar Deep Research up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen-MT Plus accepts text; Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct accepts text; Sonar Deep Research accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen-MT Plus and Sonar Deep Research is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is the newest, released Apr 2025. Sonar Deep Research came out Feb 1, 2025; Qwen-MT Plus came out Jan 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen-MT Plus Apr 2024, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct Apr 2025, Sonar Deep Research 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 Oct 4, 2026.
