Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct is $0.79 cheaper per 1M input tokens (76% lower; 4.16x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct
Pick Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct for lower cost; pick Qwen3.6 Max Preview only if the larger context window matters more.
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Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct for lower cost; pick Qwen3.6 Max Preview only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct is estimated at $0.62 vs $4.16 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview, saving $3.54 (85% lower).
Cost-first pickQwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct
Context-first pickQwen3.6 Max Preview
Sample savings$3.5485%
10x traffic gap$35.35
Qwen3.6 Max Preview has more context, but Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct saves $3.54 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $35.35. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct | $8.32 | $1.62 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct | $7.28 | $1 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct | $32.24 | $4 |
Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct is $5.49 cheaper per 1M output tokens (88% lower; 8.32x difference).
Qwen3.6 Max Preview has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct is $3.54 cheaper on the standard workload (85% 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
Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct has the lower input price; Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct has the lower output price; Qwen3.6 Max Preview offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $4.16 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview and $0.62 for Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct.
Choose Qwen3.6 Max Preview when you care most about larger context window.
Choose Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct is estimated at $0.62 vs $4.16 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview, saving $3.54 (85% lower).
- Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct is $3.54 cheaper on the standard workload (85% lower).
- Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct is $0.79 cheaper per 1M input tokens (76% lower; 4.16x difference).
- Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct is $5.49 cheaper per 1M output tokens (88% lower; 8.32x difference).
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
| Feature | Qwen3.6 Max Preview (Qwen) | Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $1.04 | $0.25 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $6.24 | $0.75 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $4.16 | $0.62 |
| Context Window | 262.14K | 131.07K |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #90 | #150 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct is estimated at $0.62 vs $4.16 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview, saving $3.54 (85% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | 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 Qwen3.6 Max Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (free) can replace Qwen3.6 Max Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Qwen2.5 7B Instruct can replace Qwen3.6 Max Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
- Qwen3.5-9B can replace Qwen3.6 Max Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.11.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
- Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
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- Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
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Cheaper alternatives
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Open Qwen modelsQwen3.6-Max-Preview is a proprietary frontier model from Alibaba Cloud built on a sparse mixture-of-experts architecture with approximately 1 trillion total parameters. It is optimized for agentic coding, tool use, and...
Qwen2.5-VL is proficient in recognizing common objects such as flowers, birds, fish, and insects. It is also highly capable of analyzing texts, charts, icons, graphics, and layouts within images.