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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking vs solar-mini

solar-mini comes out ahead, 50 to 44 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

    Released Sep 23, 2025

    44/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.50 / $3.95
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
  2. Our pick

    Upstage

    solar-mini

    Released Jun 12, 2024

    50/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.15
    • Context33K
    Full specs Remove solar-mini

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

solar-mini is our pick

solar-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking (44). It leads on price. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking wins on inputs & features and context window. 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 pricesolar-minisolar-mini $0.15 · Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking $1.36 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingQwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 131,072 · solar-mini 32,768 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingQwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking: Text, Images · solar-mini: Text
  • Self-hostingQwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinkingsolar-mini
Price50%4285
Inputs & features30%6025
Context window20%250
Overall100%44/10050/100

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 VL 235B A22B Thinking vs solar-mini specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingAlibaba (Qwen)solar-miniUpstage
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.50$0.15 (best)
Output$3.95$0.15 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$1.36$0.15 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 5 providersOfficial Upstage API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens (best)32,768 tokens
Max output32,768 tokens (best)4,096 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model ID—solar-mini
API providers5 (best)1
ReleasedSep 23, 2025Jun 12, 2024
Knowledge cutoffMar 31, 2025Sep 2024
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 VL 235B A22B Thinking$12.90
  • solar-mini$1.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking or solar-mini?

solar-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking (44). It leads on price. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking wins on inputs & features and context window. 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 VL 235B A22B Thinking or solar-mini?

solar-mini is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Upstage API price). Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking costs $0.50 input / $3.95 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for solar-mini versus $1.36 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking (9.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking has not been scored yet and solar-mini has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking and solar-mini 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 VL 235B A22B Thinking has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 32,768 for solar-mini. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking up to 32,768, solar-mini up to 4,096 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking accepts text and images; solar-mini accepts text. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; solar-mini is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is the newest, released Sep 23, 2025. solar-mini came out Jun 12, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking Mar 31, 2025, solar-mini Sep 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 Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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