Qwen3 235B-A22B vs Pixtral 12B vs DeepSeek-R1
Pixtral 12B comes out ahead, 64 to 39 and 38 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 235B-A22B
38/100- ECI139.4
- Price$0.70 / $2.80
- Context131K
- Our pick
Mistral AIPixtral 12B
64/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context128K
DeepSeekDeepSeek-R1
39/100- ECI139.0
- Price$0.70 / $2.60
- Context128K
Pixtral 12B is our pick
Pixtral 12B is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against DeepSeek-R1 (39) and Qwen3 235B-A22B (38). It leads on price and inputs & features. 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 pricePixtral 12BPixtral 12B $0.15 · DeepSeek-R1 $1.18 · Qwen3 235B-A22B $1.23 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3 235B-A22BQwen3 235B-A22B 131,072 · Pixtral 12B 128,000 · DeepSeek-R1 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsPixtral 12BQwen3 235B-A22B: Text · Pixtral 12B: Text, Images · DeepSeek-R1: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Qwen3 235B-A22B | Pixtral 12B | DeepSeek-R1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 46 | 89 | 47 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 50 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 38/100 | 64/100 | 39/100 |
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 | Qwen3 235B-A22BAlibaba (Qwen) | Pixtral 12BMistral AI | DeepSeek-R1DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 139.4 (best) | — | 139.0 |
| ECI rank | #103 of 148 (best) | — | #104 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 70.7% | — | 71.7% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | — | 53.3% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.70 | $0.15 (best) | $0.70 |
| Output | $2.80 | $0.15 (best) | $2.60 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.23 | $0.15 (best) | $1.18 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Mistral API | Median of 11 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 16,384 tokens | 128,000 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Open | Open |
| API model ID | qwen3-235b-a22b | pixtral-12b | — |
| API providers | 7 | 4 | 12 (best) |
| Released | Apr 28, 2025 | Sep 1, 2024 | Jan 20, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2025 | Sep 2024 | Jul 2024 |
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$12.60
- Pixtral 12B$1.80
- DeepSeek-R1$12.20
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen3 235B-A22B, Pixtral 12B or DeepSeek-R1?
Pixtral 12B is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against DeepSeek-R1 (39) and Qwen3 235B-A22B (38). It leads on price and inputs & features. 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, Qwen3 235B-A22B, Pixtral 12B or DeepSeek-R1?
Pixtral 12B is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). DeepSeek-R1 costs $0.70 input / $2.60 output per million tokens (median across 11 API providers); Qwen3 235B-A22B costs $0.70 input / $2.80 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 Pixtral 12B versus $1.18 for DeepSeek-R1 (7.8× as much) and $1.23 for Qwen3 235B-A22B (8.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen3 235B-A22B has an ECI of 139.4, Pixtral 12B has not been scored yet and DeepSeek-R1 has an ECI of 139.0.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 235B-A22B, Pixtral 12B and DeepSeek-R1 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3 235B-A22B has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Pixtral 12B and 128,000 for DeepSeek-R1. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 235B-A22B up to 16,384, Pixtral 12B up to 128,000, DeepSeek-R1 up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen3 235B-A22B accepts text; Pixtral 12B accepts text and images; DeepSeek-R1 accepts text. Pixtral 12B handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights, so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Qwen3 235B-A22B is the newest, released Apr 28, 2025. DeepSeek-R1 came out Jan 20, 2025; Pixtral 12B came out Sep 1, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 235B-A22B Apr 2025, Pixtral 12B Sep 2024, DeepSeek-R1 Jul 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.
