API cost decision in 10 seconds

DeepSeek V3 0324 vs Qwen3.6 35B A3B

Pick DeepSeek V3 0324 for lower cost; pick Qwen3.6 35B A3B only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T18:08:02Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick DeepSeek V3 0324 for lower cost; pick Qwen3.6 35B A3B only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3 0324 is estimated at $0.58 vs $0.65 for Qwen3.6 35B A3B, saving $0.07 (10% lower).

Cost-first pickDeepSeek V3 0324

Context-first pickQwen3.6 35B A3B

Sample savings$0.0710%

10x traffic gap$0.65

Qwen3.6 35B A3B has more context, but DeepSeek V3 0324 saves $0.07 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.65. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Qwen3.6 35B A3B, balanced workload favors DeepSeek V3 0324, and output-heavy chatbot favors DeepSeek V3 0324.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	DeepSeek V3 0324	Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Qwen3.6 35B A3B	$1.39	$1.25
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	DeepSeek V3 0324	$0.97	$1.15
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	DeepSeek V3 0324	$4.05	$5.15

Cheaper input Qwen3.6 35B A3B $0.2 vs $0.15 / 1M

Qwen3.6 35B A3B is $0.05 cheaper per 1M input tokens (25% lower; 1.33x difference).

Cheaper output DeepSeek V3 0324 $0.77 vs $1 / 1M

DeepSeek V3 0324 is $0.23 cheaper per 1M output tokens (23% lower; 1.3x difference).

Larger context Qwen3.6 35B A3B 163.84K vs 262.14K

Qwen3.6 35B A3B has 98.3K more context (1.6x larger).

Sample workload DeepSeek V3 0324 $0.58 vs $0.65

DeepSeek V3 0324 is $0.07 cheaper on the standard workload (10% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

DeepSeek V3 0324 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Qwen3.6 35B A3B Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Qwen3.6 35B A3B has the lower input price; DeepSeek V3 0324 has the lower output price; Qwen3.6 35B A3B offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, DeepSeek V3 0324 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.58 for DeepSeek V3 0324 and $0.65 for Qwen3.6 35B A3B.

Best Fit

Choose DeepSeek V3 0324 when you care most about lower output-token price.

Choose Qwen3.6 35B A3B when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3 0324 is estimated at $0.58 vs $0.65 for Qwen3.6 35B A3B, saving $0.07 (10% lower).
DeepSeek V3 0324 is $0.07 cheaper on the standard workload (10% lower).
Qwen3.6 35B A3B is $0.05 cheaper per 1M input tokens (25% lower; 1.33x difference).
DeepSeek V3 0324 is $0.23 cheaper per 1M output tokens (23% lower; 1.3x difference).
Qwen3.6 35B A3B has 98.3K more context (1.6x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	DeepSeek V3 0324 (DeepSeek)	Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Qwen)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.2	$0.15
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.77	$1
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.58	$0.65
Context Window	163.84K	262.14K
Release Date	2025-03-24	2026-04-27
Popularity	#52	#76

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	DeepSeek V3 0324	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3 0324 is estimated at $0.58 vs $0.65 for Qwen3.6 35B A3B, saving $0.07 (10% lower).
High-volume input processing	Qwen3.6 35B A3B	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	DeepSeek V3 0324	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Qwen3.6 35B A3B	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) can replace DeepSeek V3 0324 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
DeepSeek V4 Flash can replace DeepSeek V3 0324 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.2.
R1 Distill Qwen 32B can replace DeepSeek V3 0324 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.43.
DeepSeek V3.2 can replace DeepSeek V3 0324 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.44.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite offers 1.05M context with $0.3 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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DeepSeek catalog

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Qwen catalog

Check other Qwen models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Qwen models

DeepSeek V3 0324

DeepSeek V3, a 685B-parameter, mixture-of-experts model, is the latest iteration of the flagship chat model family from the DeepSeek team. It succeeds the [DeepSeek V3](/deepseek/deepseek-chat-v3) model and performs really well...

Qwen3.6 35B A3B

Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is an open-weight multimodal model from Alibaba Cloud with 35 billion total parameters and 3 billion active parameters per token. It uses a hybrid sparse mixture-of-experts architecture combining Gated...