Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is $0.36 cheaper per 1M input tokens (72.2% lower; 3.6x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) vs Qwen3.5-35B-A3B
Pick Qwen3.5-35B-A3B when budget and context both matter.
Budget verdict
Pick Qwen3.5-35B-A3B when budget and context both matter.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is estimated at $0.64 vs $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview), saving $1.36 (68% lower).
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $13.61. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | $4 | $1.2 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | $3.5 | $1.14 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | $15.5 | $5.14 |
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is $2 cheaper per 1M output tokens (66.7% lower; 3x difference).
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is $1.36 cheaper on the standard workload (68% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
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
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B has the lower input price; Qwen3.5-35B-A3B has the lower output price; Qwen3.5-35B-A3B offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) and $0.64 for Qwen3.5-35B-A3B.
Choose Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.
Choose Qwen3.5-35B-A3B when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is estimated at $0.64 vs $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview), saving $1.36 (68% lower).
- Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is $1.36 cheaper on the standard workload (68% lower).
- Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is $0.36 cheaper per 1M input tokens (72.2% lower; 3.6x difference).
- Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is $2 cheaper per 1M output tokens (66.7% lower; 3x difference).
- Qwen3.5-35B-A3B has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
| Feature | Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) (Google) | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.5 | $0.139 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $3 | $1 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $2 | $0.64 |
| Context Window | 131.07K | 262.14K |
| Release Date |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is estimated at $0.64 vs $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview), saving $1.36 (68% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite offers 1.05M context with $1 sample workload cost.
- No popular competitor is currently available.
Cheaper alternatives
Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
Open cheapest modelsLarger context alternatives
Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.
Open largest context modelsProvider catalogs
Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.
Open provider hubsGoogle catalog
Review all tracked Google models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.
Open Google modelsQwen catalog
Check other Qwen models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.
Open Qwen modelsGemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview, a.k.a. "Nano Banana 2," is Google’s latest state of the art image generation and editing model, delivering Pro-level visual quality at Flash speed. It combines...
The Qwen3.5 Series 35B-A3B is a native vision-language model designed with a hybrid architecture that integrates linear attention mechanisms and a sparse mixture-of-experts model, achieving higher inference efficiency. Its overall...