API cost decision in 10 seconds

Qwen3.6 27B vs Qwen3 235B A22B

Pick Qwen3.6 27B when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T19:08:13Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Qwen3.6 27B when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.6 27B is estimated at $1.3 vs $1.36 for Qwen3 235B A22B, saving $0.06 (4.8% lower).

Cost-first pickQwen3.6 27B

Context-first pickQwen3.6 27B

Sample savings$0.064.8%

10x traffic gap$0.65

Qwen3.6 27B is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. 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 27B, balanced workload favors Qwen3 235B A22B, and output-heavy chatbot favors Qwen3 235B A22B.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Qwen3.6 27B	Qwen3 235B A22B
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Qwen3.6 27B	$2.5	$3.19
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Qwen3 235B A22B	$2.3	$2.27
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Qwen3 235B A22B	$10.3	$9.55

Cheaper input Qwen3.6 27B $0.3 vs $0.455 / 1M

Qwen3.6 27B is $0.16 cheaper per 1M input tokens (34.1% lower; 1.52x difference).

Cheaper output Qwen3 235B A22B $2 vs $1.82 / 1M

Qwen3 235B A22B is $0.18 cheaper per 1M output tokens (9% lower; 1.1x difference).

Larger context Qwen3.6 27B 262.14K vs 131.07K

Qwen3.6 27B has 131.07K more context (2x larger).

Sample workload Qwen3.6 27B $1.3 vs $1.36

Qwen3.6 27B is $0.06 cheaper on the standard workload (4.8% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Qwen3.6 27B Calculating… Estimated API cost

Qwen3 235B A22B 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 27B has the lower input price; Qwen3 235B A22B has the lower output price; Qwen3.6 27B offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Qwen3.6 27B is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.3 for Qwen3.6 27B and $1.36 for Qwen3 235B A22B.

Best Fit

Choose Qwen3.6 27B when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Qwen3 235B A22B when you care most about lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.6 27B is estimated at $1.3 vs $1.36 for Qwen3 235B A22B, saving $0.06 (4.8% lower).
Qwen3.6 27B is $0.06 cheaper on the standard workload (4.8% lower).
Qwen3.6 27B is $0.16 cheaper per 1M input tokens (34.1% lower; 1.52x difference).
Qwen3 235B A22B is $0.18 cheaper per 1M output tokens (9% lower; 1.1x difference).
Qwen3.6 27B has 131.07K more context (2x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Qwen3.6 27B (Qwen)	Qwen3 235B A22B (Qwen)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.3	$0.455
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2	$1.82
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$1.3	$1.36
Context Window	262.14K	131.07K
Release Date	2026-04-27	2025-04-28
Popularity	#84	#131

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Qwen3.6 27B	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3.6 27B is estimated at $1.3 vs $1.36 for Qwen3 235B A22B, saving $0.06 (4.8% lower).
High-volume input processing	Qwen3.6 27B	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Qwen3 235B A22B	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Qwen3.6 27B	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) can replace Qwen3.6 27B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (free) can replace Qwen3.6 27B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct can replace Qwen3.6 27B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
Qwen3.5-9B can replace Qwen3.6 27B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.11.

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.
DeepSeek V4 Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.87 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

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

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Qwen catalog

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

Open Qwen models

Qwen3.6 27B

Qwen3.6 27B is a dense 27-billion-parameter language model from the Qwen Team at Alibaba, released in April 2026. It features hybrid multimodal capabilities — accepting text, image, and video inputs...

Qwen3 235B A22B

Qwen3-235B-A22B is a 235B parameter mixture-of-experts (MoE) model developed by Qwen, activating 22B parameters per forward pass. It supports seamless switching between a "thinking" mode for complex reasoning, math, and...