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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B vs Aya Expanse 32B

Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B comes out ahead, 49 to 33 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B

    Released Nov 12, 2024

    49/100
    • ECI88.2
    • Price$0.10 / $0.10
    • Context33K
  2. Cohere

    Aya Expanse 32B

    Released Oct 24, 2024

    33/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.50 / $1.50
    • Context128K
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B is our pick

Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against Aya Expanse 32B (33). It leads on price. Aya Expanse 32B wins on 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 priceQwen2.5-Coder-0.5BQwen2.5-Coder-0.5B $0.10 · Aya Expanse 32B $0.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAya Expanse 32BAya Expanse 32B 128,000 · Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B 32,768 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen2.5-Coder-0.5B: Text · Aya Expanse 32B: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen2.5-Coder-0.5BAya Expanse 32B
Price50%9756
Inputs & features30%00
Context window20%024
Overall100%49/10033/100

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.

Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B vs Aya Expanse 32B specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen2.5-Coder-0.5BAlibaba (Qwen)Aya Expanse 32BCohere
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)88.2—
ECI rank#148 of 148—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.10 (best)$0.50
Output$0.10 (best)$1.50
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.10 (best)$0.75
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 1 providersMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window32,768 tokens128,000 tokens (best)
Max output8,192 tokens (best)4,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingNoNo
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenApache 2.0OpenCC-BY-NC-4.0
API model ID—c4ai-aya-expanse-32b
API providers12 (best)
ReleasedNov 12, 2024Oct 24, 2024
Knowledge cutoff——
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.

  • Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B$1.20
  • Aya Expanse 32B$8.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B or Aya Expanse 32B?

Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against Aya Expanse 32B (33). It leads on price. Aya Expanse 32B wins on 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, Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B or Aya Expanse 32B?

Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.10 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Aya Expanse 32B costs $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.10 per million tokens for Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B versus $0.75 for Aya Expanse 32B (7.5× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B has an ECI of 88.2 and Aya Expanse 32B has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B and Aya Expanse 32B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B and Aya Expanse 32B does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Aya Expanse 32B has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 32,768 for Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B. Maximum output per response: Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B up to 8,192, Aya Expanse 32B up to 4,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B accepts text; Aya Expanse 32B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (Apache 2.0 and CC-BY-NC-4.0), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Qwen2.5-Coder-0.5B is the newest, released Nov 12, 2024. Aya Expanse 32B came out Oct 24, 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.