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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Qwen3.5 9B Base vs Qwen3 Coder Next

Qwen3.5 9B Base comes out ahead, 50 to 47 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. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 Coder Next

    Released Feb 3, 2026

    47/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.20 / $1.20
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 Coder Next

  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 Qwen3 Coder Next (47). It leads 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 · Qwen3 Coder Next $0.45 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameQwen3.5 9B Base 262,144 · Qwen3 Coder Next 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.5 9B BaseQwen3.5 9B Base: Text, Images, Video · Qwen3 Coder Next: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.5 9B BaseQwen3 Coder Next
Price50%6564
Inputs & features30%3525
Context window20%3737
Overall100%50/10047/100

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 Qwen3 Coder Next specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.5 9B BaseAlibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 Coder NextAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.30$0.20 (best)
Output$0.807 (best)$1.20
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.427 (best)$0.45
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 1 providersMedian of 15 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens262,144 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingNoYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenApache-2.0Open
API model ID——
API providers116 (best)
ReleasedFeb 26, 2026Feb 3, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—Sep 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
  • Qwen3 Coder Next$4.40
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.5 9B Base or Qwen3 Coder Next?

Qwen3.5 9B Base is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Qwen3 Coder Next (47). It leads 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 Qwen3 Coder Next?

Qwen3.5 9B Base is cheaper at $0.30 input / $0.807 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Qwen3 Coder Next costs $0.20 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (median across 15 API providers). 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 $0.45 for Qwen3 Coder Next (1.1× 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 Qwen3 Coder Next has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.5 9B Base and Qwen3 Coder Next 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 and Qwen3 Coder Next share the same 262,144-token context window. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.5 9B Base up to 65,536, Qwen3 Coder Next up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.5 9B Base accepts text, images and video; Qwen3 Coder Next accepts text. 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?

Qwen3.5 9B Base is the newest, released Feb 26, 2026. Qwen3 Coder Next came out Feb 3, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 Coder Next Sep 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

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