Qwen Plus vs Vision Small
Vision Small comes out ahead, 61 to 54 on our weighted score, though Qwen Plus is 2.6× cheaper per token.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Plus
54/100- ECI—
- Price$0.40 / $1.20
- Context1M
- Our pick
VisparkVision Small
61/100- ECI—
- Price$1.05 / $3.16
- Context1M
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Vision Small is our pick
Vision Small is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Qwen Plus (54). It leads on inputs & features. Qwen Plus 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 priceQwen PlusQwen Plus $0.60 · Vision Small $1.58 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameQwen Plus 1,000,000 · Vision Small 1,000,000 tokens
- Widest inputsVision SmallQwen Plus: Text · Vision Small: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Qwen Plus | Vision Small |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 58 | 39 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 45 | 100 |
| Context window | 20% | 60 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 54/100 | 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 PlusAlibaba (Qwen) | Vision SmallVispark |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.40 (best) | $1.05 |
| Output | $1.20 (best) | $3.16 |
| Cached input | $0.08 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.60 (best) | $1.58 |
| Long-context rate | Over 256K: $1.20 / $3.60 | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Vispark API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | Yes |
| Video | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwen-plus | vispark/vision-small |
| API providers | 10 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Jan 25, 2024 | May 15, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 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 Plus$6.40
- Vision Small$16.82
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen Plus or Vision Small?
Vision Small is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Qwen Plus (54). It leads on inputs & features. Qwen Plus 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 Plus or Vision Small?
Qwen Plus is cheaper at $0.40 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Vision Small costs $1.05 input / $3.16 output per million tokens (official Vispark 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 $1.58 for Vision Small (2.6× 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 Vision Small has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen Plus and Vision Small 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 and Vision Small share the same 1,000,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: Qwen Plus up to 32,768, Vision Small up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen Plus 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 Plus and Vision Small are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Vision Small is the newest, released May 15, 2024. Qwen Plus came out Jan 25, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen Plus Apr 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.
