Hy3 preview is $0.19 cheaper per 1M input tokens (74.6% lower; 3.94x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
🔥Hy3 preview vs Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15
Pick Hy3 preview for lower cost; pick Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 only if the larger context window matters more.
Budget verdict
Pick Hy3 preview for lower cost; pick Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Hy3 preview is estimated at $0.2 vs $1.04 for Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15, saving $0.84 (81.2% lower).
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 has more context, but Hy3 preview saves $0.84 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $8.44. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Hy3 preview stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Hy3 preview | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Hy3 preview | $0.46 | $2.08 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Hy3 preview | $0.33 | $1.82 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Hy3 preview | $1.37 | $8.06 |
Hy3 preview is $1.3 cheaper per 1M output tokens (83.3% lower; 6x difference).
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).
Hy3 preview is $0.84 cheaper on the standard workload (81.2% 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
Hy3 preview has the lower input price; Hy3 preview has the lower output price; Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Hy3 preview is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.2 for Hy3 preview and $1.04 for Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15.
Choose Hy3 preview when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
Choose Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 when you care most about larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Hy3 preview is estimated at $0.2 vs $1.04 for Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15, saving $0.84 (81.2% lower).
- Hy3 preview is $0.84 cheaper on the standard workload (81.2% lower).
- Hy3 preview is $0.19 cheaper per 1M input tokens (74.6% lower; 3.94x difference).
- Hy3 preview is $1.3 cheaper per 1M output tokens (83.3% lower; 6x difference).
- Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).
| Feature | 🔥Hy3 preview (Tencent) | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.066 | $0.26 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0.26 | $1.56 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0.2 | $1.04 |
| Context Window | 262.14K | 1M |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #1 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Hy3 preview | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Hy3 preview is estimated at $0.2 vs $1.04 for Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15, saving $0.84 (81.2% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Hy3 preview | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Hy3 preview | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | 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 Plus 2026-02-15 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (free) can replace Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Qwen2.5 7B Instruct can replace Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
- Qwen3.5-9B can replace Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 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 $0.22 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.87 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #2
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #3
- Owl Alpha · OpenRouter · #4
- Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #5
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 hubsTencent catalog
Review all tracked Tencent models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.
Open Tencent modelsQwen catalog
Check other Qwen models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.
Open Qwen modelsHy3 preview is a high-efficiency Mixture-of-Experts model from Tencent designed for agentic workflows and production use. It supports configurable reasoning levels across disabled, low, and high modes, allowing it to...
The Qwen3.5 native vision-language series Plus models are built on a hybrid architecture that integrates linear attention mechanisms with sparse mixture-of-experts models, achieving higher inference efficiency. In a variety of...