Qwen-VL Plus vs solar-mini
Qwen-VL Plus comes out ahead, 57 to 52 on our weighted score, though solar-mini is 2.1× cheaper per token.
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen-VL Plus
57/100- ECI—
- Price$0.21 / $0.63
- Context131K
Upstage
solar-mini
52/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context33K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Qwen-VL Plus is our pick
Qwen-VL Plus is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against solar-mini (52). 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 · Qwen-VL Plus $0.315 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen-VL PlusQwen-VL Plus 131,072 · solar-mini 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen-VL PlusQwen-VL Plus: Text, Images · solar-mini: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Qwen-VL Plus | solar-mini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 74 | 89 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 50 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 57/100 | 52/100 |
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-VL PlusAlibaba (Qwen) | solar-miniUpstage |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.21 | $0.15 (best) |
| Output | $0.63 | $0.15 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.315 | $0.15 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Upstage API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens (best) | 4,096 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwen-vl-plus | solar-mini |
| API providers | 2 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Jan 25, 2024 | Jun 12, 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-VL Plus$3.36
- solar-mini$1.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen-VL Plus or solar-mini?
Qwen-VL Plus is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against solar-mini (52). 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-VL Plus or solar-mini?
solar-mini is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Upstage API price). Qwen-VL Plus costs $0.21 input / $0.63 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 $0.315 for Qwen-VL Plus (2.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen-VL Plus has not been scored yet and solar-mini has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen-VL Plus and solar-mini 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-VL Plus has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 32,768 for solar-mini. Maximum output per response: Qwen-VL Plus up to 8,192, solar-mini up to 4,096 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen-VL Plus accepts text and images; solar-mini accepts text. Qwen-VL Plus handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Qwen-VL Plus and solar-mini are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
solar-mini is the newest, released Jun 12, 2024. Qwen-VL Plus came out Jan 25, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen-VL Plus 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 Oct 4, 2026.
