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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 vs DeepSeek-V3.1

Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 58, DeepSeek-V3.1 55). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507

    Released Jul 21, 2025

    58/100
    • ECI138.9
    • Price$0.15 / $0.75
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507

  2. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek-V3.1

    Released Aug 21, 2025

    55/100
    • ECI139.9
    • Price$0.385 / $1.25
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek-V3.1

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 58/100, DeepSeek-V3.1 55/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DeepSeek-V3.1 for raw capability, Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 on price and Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek-V3.1Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-V3.1 139.9 · Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 138.9
  • Lowest priceQwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 $0.30 · DeepSeek-V3.1 $0.601 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 262,144 · DeepSeek-V3.1 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507: Text · DeepSeek-V3.1: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507DeepSeek-V3.1
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6465
Price25%7560
Inputs & features15%2535
Context window10%3724
Overall100%58/10055/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 vs DeepSeek-V3.1 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507Alibaba (Qwen)DeepSeek-V3.1DeepSeek
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)138.9139.9 (best)
ECI rank#105 of 148#100 of 148 (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.15 (best)$0.385
Output$0.75 (best)$1.25
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.30 (best)$0.601
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 11 providersMedian of 8 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output16,384 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenApache 2.0OpenMIT License
API model ID——
API providers11 (best)8
ReleasedJul 21, 2025Aug 21, 2025
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.

  • Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507$3.00
  • DeepSeek-V3.1$6.35
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 or DeepSeek-V3.1?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 58/100, DeepSeek-V3.1 55/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DeepSeek-V3.1 for raw capability, Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 on price and Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 or DeepSeek-V3.1?

Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.75 output per million tokens (median across 11 API providers). DeepSeek-V3.1 costs $0.385 input / $1.25 output per million tokens (median across 8 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.30 per million tokens for Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 versus $0.601 for DeepSeek-V3.1 (2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek-V3.1 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-V3.1 139.9 (#100 of 148) and Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 138.9 (#105 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (136.1–143.3 vs 135.8–140.6), so treat the gap as small.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 and DeepSeek-V3.1 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek-V3.1 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for DeepSeek-V3.1. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 up to 16,384, DeepSeek-V3.1 up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 accepts text; DeepSeek-V3.1 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 MIT License), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

DeepSeek-V3.1 is the newest, released Aug 21, 2025. Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 came out Jul 21, 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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