DeepSeek V3.1 vs Qwen3.5-35B-A3B
| Signal | DeepSeek V3.1 | Delta | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 67 | -17 | |
Pricing | 99 | +0 | |
Context window size | 83 | -3 | |
Recency | 52 | -34 | |
Output Capacity | 83 | +4 | |
Benchmarks | 0 | -68 | |
| Overall Result | 2 wins | of 6 | 4 wins |
Score History
71.8
current score
DeepSeek V3.1
right now
68.7
current score
DeepSeek V3.1
DeepSeek
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B
Alibaba
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B saves you $8.50/month
That's $102.00/year compared to DeepSeek V3.1 at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | DeepSeek V3.1 | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 72 | 69 | DeepSeek V3.1 |
| Rank | #106 | #131 | DeepSeek V3.1 |
| Quality Rank | #106 | #131 | DeepSeek V3.1 |
| Adoption Rank | #106 | #131 | DeepSeek V3.1 |
| Parameters | -- | 35B | -- |
| Context Window | 164K | 262K | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B |
| Pricing | $0.25/$0.95/M | $0.14/$1.00/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 67 | 83 | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B |
| Pricing | 99 | 99 | DeepSeek V3.1 |
| Context window size | 83 | 86 | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B |
| Recency | 52 | 87 | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B |
| Output Capacity | 83 | 79 | DeepSeek V3.1 |
| Benchmarks | -- | 68 | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B |
Our score (0-100) is driven by benchmark performance (90%) from Arena Elo ratings, MMLU, GPQA, HumanEval, SWE-bench, and 15+ standardized evaluations. Capabilities and context window serve as tiebreakers (10%). Learn more about our methodology.
Scores 72/100 (rank #106), placing it in the top 64% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 69/100 (rank #131), placing it in the top 55% of all 290 models tracked.
With only a 3-point gap, these models are in the same performance tier. The practical difference in output quality is minimal - your choice should depend on pricing, latency requirements, and specific feature needs.
Choose DeepSeek V3.1 when you need:
- Step-by-step reasoning and chain-of-thought problem solving
- Self-hosted deployments where you need full control over the model
Choose Qwen3.5-35B-A3B when you need:
- Processing long documents or large codebases (262K token context)
- Multimodal workflows that require image understanding
- Step-by-step reasoning and chain-of-thought problem solving
- Self-hosted deployments where you need full control over the model
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B offers 5% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $17.10/month with Qwen3.5-35B-A3B vs $18.00/month with DeepSeek V3.1 - a $0.90 monthly difference.
Both models have comparable response speeds. For most applications, the latency difference is negligible.
When latency matters most: Interactive chatbots, IDE code completion, real-time translation, and user-facing applications where response time directly impacts experience. For batch processing, background summarization, or offline analysis, latency is less critical.
Code generation & review
Based on overall model capabilities and architecture for coding tasks like generating functions, debugging, and refactoring
Customer support chatbot
Suitable for user-facing chat with competitive response times. DeepSeek V3.1 also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (262K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($0.95/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily
Creative writing & content
Higher overall composite score (72/100) correlates with better nuance, coherence, and style in long-form content
Image understanding & OCR
Supports vision input - can analyze screenshots, diagrams, photos, and scanned documents directly
DeepSeek V3.1 has a moderate advantage with a 3.0999999999999943-point lead in composite score. It wins on more signal dimensions, but Qwen3.5-35B-A3B has specific strengths that could make it the better choice for certain workflows.
By Use Case
Best for Quality
DeepSeek V3.1
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B
5% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
DeepSeek V3.1
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
DeepSeek V3.1
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
DeepSeek V3.1
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by DeepSeek
- Choose for Quality - Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
- Choose for Reliability - Higher uptime and faster response speeds
- Choose for Prototyping - Stronger community support and better developer experience
- Choose for Production - Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
| Capability | DeepSeek V3.1 | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input)differs | ||
| Function Calling | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Web Search | ||
| Image Output |
DeepSeek V3.1
DeepSeek
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B
Alibaba
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B saves you $0.1380/month
That's 9% cheaper than DeepSeek V3.1 at 1,000 tokens/request and 100 requests/day.
Assumes 60% input / 40% output token ratio per request. Actual costs may vary based on your usage pattern.
| Parameter | DeepSeek V3.1 | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 164K | 262K |
| Max Output Tokens | 147,456 | 81,920 |
| Open Source | Yes | Yes |
| Created | Aug 21, 2025 | Feb 25, 2026 |