Qwen3.5 0.8B vs Qwen3.5 9B Base
Qwen3.5 0.8B comes out ahead, 57 to 36 on our weighted score.
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.5 0.8B
57/100- ECI—
- Price—
- Context262K
- Alibaba (Qwen)
Qwen3.5 9B Base
36/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $0.807
- Context262K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Qwen3.5 0.8B is our pick
Qwen3.5 0.8B is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Qwen3.5 9B Base (36). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. 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 priceQwen3.5 9B BaseQwen3.5 9B Base $0.427 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Qwen3.5 0.8B unpriced
- Longest contextAbout the sameQwen3.5 0.8B 262,144 · Qwen3.5 9B Base 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3.5 0.8B: Text, Images, Video · Qwen3.5 9B Base: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Qwen3.5 0.8B | Qwen3.5 9B Base |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs & features | 60% | 70 | 35 |
| Context window | 40% | 37 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 57/100 | 36/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Qwen3.5 0.8BAlibaba (Qwen) | Qwen3.5 9B BaseAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | — | $0.30 |
| Output | — | $0.807 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | — | $0.427 |
| Long-context rate | — | Same rate |
| Price source | — | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 81,920 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | No |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | OpenApache-2.0 | OpenApache-2.0 |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | 1 | 1 |
| Released | Mar 2, 2026 | Feb 26, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Qwen3.5 0.8B—
- Qwen3.5 9B Base$4.61
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen3.5 0.8B or Qwen3.5 9B Base?
Qwen3.5 0.8B is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Qwen3.5 9B Base (36). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.5 0.8B or Qwen3.5 9B Base?
Qwen3.5 9B Base is cheaper at $0.30 input / $0.807 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). . At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.427 per million tokens for Qwen3.5 9B Base versus . Qwen3.5 0.8B has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3.5 0.8B has not been scored yet and Qwen3.5 9B Base has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.5 0.8B and Qwen3.5 9B Base yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Qwen3.5 9B Base does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3.5 0.8B and Qwen3.5 9B Base share the same 262,144-token context window. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.5 0.8B up to 81,920, Qwen3.5 9B Base up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen3.5 0.8B accepts text, images and video; Qwen3.5 9B Base accepts text, images and video. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (Apache-2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Qwen3.5 0.8B is the newest, released Mar 2, 2026. Qwen3.5 9B Base came out Feb 26, 2026.
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.
