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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3 Coder Next vs Qwen3.5 Plus

Qwen3.5 Plus comes out ahead, 59 to 51 on our weighted score, though Qwen3 Coder Next is 2× cheaper per token.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 Coder Next

    Released Feb 3, 2026

    51/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.20 / $1.20
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 Coder Next
  2. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.5 Plus

    Released Feb 16, 2026

    59/100
    • ECI146.8
    • Price$0.40 / $2.40
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.5 Plus

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3.5 Plus is our pick

Qwen3.5 Plus is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against Qwen3 Coder Next (51). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Qwen3 Coder Next wins on price. 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 Coder NextQwen3 Coder Next $0.45 · Qwen3.5 Plus $0.90 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.5 PlusQwen3.5 Plus 1,000,000 · Qwen3 Coder Next 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.5 PlusQwen3 Coder Next: Text · Qwen3.5 Plus: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingQwen3 Coder NextPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 Coder NextQwen3.5 Plus
Price50%6652
Inputs & features30%3570
Context window20%3760
Overall100%51/10059/100

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 Coder Next vs Qwen3.5 Plus specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 Coder NextAlibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.5 PlusAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—146.8
ECI rank—#65 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—84.9%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—86.7%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—25.4%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.20 (best)$0.40
Output$1.20 (best)$2.40
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.45 (best)$0.90
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 11 providersOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)
Max output65,536 tokens65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model ID—qwen3.5-plus
API providers11 (best)10
ReleasedFeb 3, 2026Feb 16, 2026
Knowledge cutoffSep 2025Apr 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 Coder Next$4.40
  • Qwen3.5 Plus$8.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 Coder Next or Qwen3.5 Plus?

Qwen3.5 Plus is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against Qwen3 Coder Next (51). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Qwen3 Coder Next wins on price. 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 Coder Next or Qwen3.5 Plus?

Qwen3 Coder Next is cheaper at $0.20 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (median across 11 API providers). Qwen3.5 Plus costs $0.40 input / $2.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.45 per million tokens for Qwen3 Coder Next versus $0.90 for Qwen3.5 Plus (2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3 Coder Next has not been scored yet and Qwen3.5 Plus has an ECI of 146.8.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 Coder Next and Qwen3.5 Plus yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.5 Plus has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3 Coder Next. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 Coder Next up to 65,536, Qwen3.5 Plus up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 Coder Next accepts text; Qwen3.5 Plus accepts text, images and video. Qwen3.5 Plus handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Qwen3 Coder Next publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.5 Plus is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.5 Plus is the newest, released Feb 16, 2026. Qwen3 Coder Next came out Feb 3, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 Coder Next Sep 2025, Qwen3.5 Plus Apr 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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