ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen Plus vs Mixtral 8x7B

Qwen Plus comes out ahead, 53 to 36 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen Plus

    Released Jan 25, 2024

    53/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.40 / $1.20
    • Context1M
  2. Mistral AI

    Mixtral 8x7B

    Released Dec 11, 2023

    36/100
    • ECI118.5
    • Price$0.70 / $0.70
    • Context32K
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen Plus is our pick

Qwen Plus is the better all-round choice, scoring 53/100 against Mixtral 8x7B (36). 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 priceQwen PlusQwen Plus $0.60 · Mixtral 8x7B $0.70 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen PlusQwen Plus 1,000,000 · Mixtral 8x7B 32,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen Plus: Text · Mixtral 8x7B: Text
  • Self-hostingMixtral 8x7BPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen PlusMixtral 8x7B
Price50%6057
Inputs & features30%3525
Context window20%600
Overall100%53/10036/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Qwen Plus vs Mixtral 8x7B specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen PlusAlibaba (Qwen)Mixtral 8x7BMistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—118.5
ECI rank—#142 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—30.6%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.40 (best)$0.70
Output$1.20$0.70 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.60 (best)$0.70
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens (best)32,000 tokens
Max output32,768 tokens (best)32,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDqwen-plusopen-mixtral-8x7b
API providers9 (best)1
ReleasedJan 25, 2024Dec 11, 2023
Knowledge cutoffApr 2024Jan 2024
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Qwen Plus$6.40
  • Mixtral 8x7B$8.40
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen Plus or Mixtral 8x7B?

Qwen Plus is the better all-round choice, scoring 53/100 against Mixtral 8x7B (36). 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 Plus or Mixtral 8x7B?

Qwen Plus is cheaper at $0.40 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Mixtral 8x7B costs $0.70 input / $0.70 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.60 per million tokens for Qwen Plus versus $0.70 for Mixtral 8x7B (1.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen Plus has not been scored yet and Mixtral 8x7B has an ECI of 118.5.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen Plus and Mixtral 8x7B 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 Plus has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 32,000 for Mixtral 8x7B. Maximum output per response: Qwen Plus up to 32,768, Mixtral 8x7B up to 32,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen Plus accepts text; Mixtral 8x7B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Mixtral 8x7B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen Plus is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen Plus is the newest, released Jan 25, 2024. Mixtral 8x7B came out Dec 11, 2023. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen Plus Apr 2024, Mixtral 8x7B Jan 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 Oct 4, 2026.