API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewMistral Medium 3.5 vs Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15

Pick Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 when budget and context both matter.

Pricing data updated:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 is estimated at $1.04 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $4.21 (80.2% lower).

Cost-first pickQwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15
Context-first pickQwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15
Sample savings$4.2180.2%
10x traffic gap$42.1

Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $42.1. 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 Plus 2026-02-15 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickMistral Medium 3.5Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputQwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15$11.25$2.08
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputQwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15$9$1.82
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputQwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15$39$8.06
Cheaper input Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 $1.5 vs $0.26 / 1M

Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 is $1.24 cheaper per 1M input tokens (82.7% lower; 5.77x difference).

Cheaper output Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 $7.5 vs $1.56 / 1M

Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 is $5.94 cheaper per 1M output tokens (79.2% lower; 4.81x difference).

Larger context Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 262.14K vs 1M

Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).

Sample workload Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 $5.25 vs $1.04

Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 is $4.21 cheaper on the standard workload (80.2% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Mistral Medium 3.5 Calculating… Estimated API cost
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 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 Plus 2026-02-15 has the lower input price; Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 has the lower output price; Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5 and $1.04 for Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15.

Best Fit

Choose Mistral Medium 3.5 when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.

Choose Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 is estimated at $1.04 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $4.21 (80.2% lower).
  • Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 is $4.21 cheaper on the standard workload (80.2% lower).
  • Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 is $1.24 cheaper per 1M input tokens (82.7% lower; 5.77x difference).
  • Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 is $5.94 cheaper per 1M output tokens (79.2% lower; 4.81x difference).
  • Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureNewMistral Medium 3.5
(Mistral)
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15
(Qwen)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$1.5$0.26
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$7.5$1.56
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$5.25$1.04
Context Window262.14K1M
Release Date

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionQwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 is estimated at $1.04 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $4.21 (80.2% lower).
High-volume input processingQwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsQwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workQwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • Mistral Nemo can replace Mistral Medium 3.5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.04.
  • Mistral Small 3 can replace Mistral Medium 3.5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
  • Ministral 3 3B 2512 can replace Mistral Medium 3.5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.15.
  • Mistral Small 3.2 24B can replace Mistral Medium 3.5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.17.
Larger context near this budget
Popular competitors
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Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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Mistral catalog

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Qwen catalog

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