Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is $0.15 cheaper per 1M input tokens (51.6% lower; 2.06x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B vs DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale
Pick DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale for lower cost; pick Qwen3.5-35B-A3B only if the larger context window matters more.
Page updated:
Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale for lower cost; pick Qwen3.5-35B-A3B only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale is estimated at $0.5 vs $0.64 for Qwen3.5-35B-A3B, saving $0.14 (21.4% lower).
Cost-first pickDeepSeek V3.2 Speciale
Context-first pickQwen3.5-35B-A3B
Sample savings$0.1421.4%
10x traffic gap$1.37
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B has more context, but DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale saves $0.14 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $1.37. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Qwen3.5-35B-A3B, balanced workload favors DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale, and output-heavy chatbot favors DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | $1.2 | $1.65 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale | $1.14 | $0.72 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale | $5.14 | $2.44 |
DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale is $0.57 cheaper per 1M output tokens (56.9% lower; 2.32x difference).
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B has 98.3K more context (1.6x larger).
DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale is $0.14 cheaper on the standard workload (21.4% 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; DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale has the lower output price; Qwen3.5-35B-A3B offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.64 for Qwen3.5-35B-A3B and $0.5 for DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale.
Choose Qwen3.5-35B-A3B when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.
Choose DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale when you care most about lower output-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale is estimated at $0.5 vs $0.64 for Qwen3.5-35B-A3B, saving $0.14 (21.4% lower).
- DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale is $0.14 cheaper on the standard workload (21.4% lower).
- Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is $0.15 cheaper per 1M input tokens (51.6% lower; 2.06x difference).
- DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale is $0.57 cheaper per 1M output tokens (56.9% lower; 2.32x difference).
- Qwen3.5-35B-A3B has 98.3K more context (1.6x larger).
| Feature | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B (Qwen) | DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale (DeepSeek) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.139 | $0.287 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $1 | $0.431 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0.64 | $0.5 |
| Context Window | 262.14K | 163.84K |
| Release Date |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale is estimated at $0.5 vs $0.64 for Qwen3.5-35B-A3B, saving $0.14 (21.4% 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 | DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale | 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
- Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) can replace Qwen3.5-35B-A3B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (free) can replace Qwen3.5-35B-A3B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Qwen2.5 7B Instruct can replace Qwen3.5-35B-A3B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
- Qwen3.5-9B can replace Qwen3.5-35B-A3B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.11.
- 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.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
- Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4
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 hubsQwen catalog
Review all tracked Qwen models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.
Open Qwen modelsDeepSeek catalog
Check other DeepSeek models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.
Open DeepSeek modelsThe 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...
DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale is a high-compute variant of DeepSeek-V3.2 optimized for maximum reasoning and agentic performance. It builds on DeepSeek Sparse Attention (DSA) for efficient long-context processing, then scales post-training reinforcement learning...