API cost decision in 10 seconds

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Pick Qwen3.5 397B A17B for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools only if the larger context window matters more.

Pricing data updated: 2026-05-26T11:08:00Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Qwen3.5 397B A17B for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.5 397B A17B is estimated at $1.56 vs $8 for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools, saving $6.44 (80.5% lower).

Cost-first pickQwen3.5 397B A17B

Context-first pickGemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools

Sample savings$6.4480.5%

10x traffic gap$64.4

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools has more context, but Qwen3.5 397B A17B saves $6.44 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $64.4. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Qwen3.5 397B A17B stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools	Qwen3.5 397B A17B
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Qwen3.5 397B A17B	$16	$3.12
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Qwen3.5 397B A17B	$14	$2.73
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Qwen3.5 397B A17B	$62	$12.09

Cheaper input Qwen3.5 397B A17B $2 vs $0.39 / 1M

Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $1.61 cheaper per 1M input tokens (80.5% lower; 5.13x difference).

Cheaper output Qwen3.5 397B A17B $12 vs $2.34 / 1M

Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $9.66 cheaper per 1M output tokens (80.5% lower; 5.13x difference).

Larger context Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools 1.05M vs 262.14K

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools has 786.61K more context (4x larger).

Sample workload Qwen3.5 397B A17B $8 vs $1.56

Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $6.44 cheaper on the standard workload (80.5% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools Calculating… Estimated API cost

Qwen3.5 397B A17B 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

Qwen3.5 397B A17B has the lower input price; Qwen3.5 397B A17B has the lower output price; Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Qwen3.5 397B A17B is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $8 for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools and $1.56 for Qwen3.5 397B A17B.

Best Fit

Choose Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Qwen3.5 397B A17B when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.5 397B A17B is estimated at $1.56 vs $8 for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools, saving $6.44 (80.5% lower).
Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $6.44 cheaper on the standard workload (80.5% lower).
Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $1.61 cheaper per 1M input tokens (80.5% lower; 5.13x difference).
Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $9.66 cheaper per 1M output tokens (80.5% lower; 5.13x difference).
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools has 786.61K more context (4x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools (Google)	Qwen3.5 397B A17B (Qwen)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$2	$0.39
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$12	$2.34
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$8	$1.56
Context Window	1.05M	262.14K
Release Date	2026-02-25	2026-02-16

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Qwen3.5 397B A17B	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.5 397B A17B is estimated at $1.56 vs $8 for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools, saving $6.44 (80.5% lower).
High-volume input processing	Qwen3.5 397B A17B	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Qwen3.5 397B A17B	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
GPT-5.4 offers 1.05M context with $10 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

No popular competitor is currently available.

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Open cheapest models

Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

Google catalog

Review all tracked Google models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

Open Google models

Qwen catalog

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

Open Qwen models

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools is a variant of Gemini 3.1 Pro that improves tool selection behavior by preventing overuse of a general bash tool when more efficient third-party...

Qwen3.5 397B A17B

The Qwen3.5 series 397B-A17B native vision-language model is built on a hybrid architecture that integrates a linear attention mechanism with a sparse mixture-of-experts model, achieving higher inference efficiency. It delivers...