ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) vs Granite-4.0-H-Micro vs Trinity Mini

Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) comes out ahead, 72 to 65 and 62 on our weighted score, though Granite-4.0-H-Micro is 40% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)

    Released Oct 15, 2025

    72/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.022 / $0.215
    • Context262K
  2. IBM

    Granite-4.0-H-Micro

    Released Oct 2, 2025

    62/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.018 / $0.115
    • Context131K
  3. Arcee AI

    Trinity Mini

    Released Dec 1, 2025

    65/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.045 / $0.15
    • Context131K
01 — Verdict

Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) is our pick

Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Trinity Mini (65) and Granite-4.0-H-Micro (62). It leads 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 priceGranite-4.0-H-MicroGranite-4.0-H-Micro $0.042 · Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) $0.07 · Trinity Mini $0.071 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) 262,144 · Granite-4.0-H-Micro 131,072 · Trinity Mini 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud): Text, Images · Granite-4.0-H-Micro: Text · Trinity Mini: Text
  • Self-hostingGranite-4.0-H-Micro and Trinity MiniPublishes downloadable weights (OpenMDW-1.1)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)Granite-4.0-H-MicroTrinity Mini
Price50%100100100
Inputs & features30%502535
Context window20%372525
Overall100%72/10062/10065/100

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 Flash (Alibaba Cloud) vs Granite-4.0-H-Micro vs Trinity Mini specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud)Alibaba (Qwen)Granite-4.0-H-MicroIBMTrinity MiniArcee AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)———
ECI rank———
Price per million tokens
Input$0.022$0.018 (best)$0.045
Output$0.215$0.115 (best)$0.15
Cached input———
Blended (3:1)$0.07$0.042 (best)$0.071
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 1 providersMedian of 2 providersMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)131,072 tokens131,072 tokens
Max output32,768 tokens131,072 tokens (best)131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesNoNo
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoNoYes
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoNoNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpenOpenOpenMDW-1.1
API model ID———
API providers12 (best)1
ReleasedOct 15, 2025Oct 2, 2025Dec 1, 2025
Knowledge cutoff———
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 Flash (Alibaba Cloud)$0.65
  • Granite-4.0-H-Micro$0.405
  • Trinity Mini$0.75
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud), Granite-4.0-H-Micro or Trinity Mini?

Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Trinity Mini (65) and Granite-4.0-H-Micro (62). It leads 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 Flash (Alibaba Cloud), Granite-4.0-H-Micro or Trinity Mini?

Granite-4.0-H-Micro is cheaper at $0.018 input / $0.115 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) costs $0.022 input / $0.215 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider); Trinity Mini costs $0.045 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.042 per million tokens for Granite-4.0-H-Micro versus $0.07 for Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) (1.7× as much) and $0.071 for Trinity Mini (1.7× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) has not been scored yet, Granite-4.0-H-Micro has not been scored yet and Trinity Mini has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud), Granite-4.0-H-Micro and Trinity Mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for Granite-4.0-H-Micro and 131,072 for Trinity Mini. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) up to 32,768, Granite-4.0-H-Micro up to 131,072, Trinity Mini up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) accepts text and images; Granite-4.0-H-Micro accepts text; Trinity Mini accepts text. Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Granite-4.0-H-Micro and Trinity Mini publishes its weights (OpenMDW-1.1) and can be self-hosted; Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Trinity Mini is the newest, released Dec 1, 2025. Qwen3 VL Flash (Alibaba Cloud) came out Oct 15, 2025; Granite-4.0-H-Micro came out Oct 2, 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.