ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Qwen3.5 9B Base vs Command A Plus

Qwen3.5 9B Base comes out ahead, 50 to 35 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.5 9B Base

    Released Feb 26, 2026

    50/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.30 / $0.807
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.5 9B Base

  2. Cohere

    Command A Plus

    Released May 20, 2026

    35/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$2.50 / $10.00
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Command A Plus

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3.5 9B Base is our pick

Qwen3.5 9B Base is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Command A Plus (35). It leads on price and context window. Command A Plus wins on 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 priceQwen3.5 9B BaseQwen3.5 9B Base $0.427 · Command A Plus $4.38 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.5 9B BaseQwen3.5 9B Base 262,144 · Command A Plus 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.5 9B BaseQwen3.5 9B Base: Text, Images, Video · Command A Plus: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.5 9B BaseCommand A Plus
Price50%6519
Inputs & features30%3570
Context window20%3724
Overall100%50/10035/100

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.

Qwen3.5 9B Base vs Command A Plus specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.5 9B BaseAlibaba (Qwen)Command A PlusCohere
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.30 (best)$2.50
Output$0.807 (best)$10.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.427 (best)$4.38
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 1 providersOfficial Cohere API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens (best)64,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingNoYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenApache-2.0Open
API model ID—command-a-plus-05-2026
API providers13 (best)
ReleasedFeb 26, 2026May 20, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—Apr 1, 2025
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.

  • Qwen3.5 9B Base$4.61
  • Command A Plus$45.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.5 9B Base or Command A Plus?

Qwen3.5 9B Base is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Command A Plus (35). It leads on price and context window. Command A Plus wins on 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, Qwen3.5 9B Base or Command A Plus?

Qwen3.5 9B Base is cheaper at $0.30 input / $0.807 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Command A Plus costs $2.50 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). 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 $4.38 for Command A Plus (10× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3.5 9B Base has not been scored yet and Command A Plus has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.5 9B Base and Command A Plus 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 9B Base has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 128,000 for Command A Plus. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.5 9B Base up to 65,536, Command A Plus up to 64,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.5 9B Base accepts text, images and video; Command A Plus accepts text and images. Qwen3.5 9B Base handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (Apache-2.0), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Command A Plus is the newest, released May 20, 2026. Qwen3.5 9B Base came out Feb 26, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Command A Plus Apr 1, 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 Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

Related comparisons