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Qwen vs DeepSeek API pricing, compared model by model
On 10 November 2026 the cheapest Alibaba model, Qwen3.6 35B A3B, costs $0.011 per million input tokens against $0.07 for the cheapest DeepSeek model, DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731, and the typical Alibaba model is the cheaper of the two.
| Qwen (Alibaba) | DeepSeek (DeepSeek) | |
|---|---|---|
| Models listed | 41 | 14 |
| Cheapest model | Qwen3.6 35B A3B, $0.011 in, $0.101 out | DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731, $0.07 in, $0.14 out |
| Most expensive model | Qwen3.8 Max Prime, $4.00 in, $12.00 out | DeepSeek V4 Pro 0423, $0.90 in, $1.50 out |
| Median input price | $0.20 | $0.265 |
| Median output price | $1.00 | $0.92 |
| Largest context | 1.05M, Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B | 1.05M, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 |
| Newest model | Qwen3.8 Max Prime, 2026-09-23 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017, 2026-10-17 |
| Models with a batch price | 3 | 3 |
Every model, with your monthly cost
| Model | Provider | Input | Output | Cached input | Batch in / out | Context | Your month | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 | DeepSeek | $0.15 | $0.60 | $0.003 | $0.011 / $0.20 | 1.05M | $18.00 | 2026-10-17 |
| Qwen3.8 Max Prime | Alibaba | $4.00 | $12.00 | $0.50 | 1M | $420.00 | 2026-09-23 | |
| Qwen3.8 Omni Flash | Alibaba | $0.15 | $0.47 | $0.016 | 1M | $16.05 | 2026-09-21 | |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash Relace, cheapest of 30 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.006 | $0.50 | $0.005 | $0.112 / $0.336 | 1.05M | $7.86 | 2026-09-10 |
| Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Alibaba | $2.00 | $6.00 | $0.25 | $1.15 / $3.45 | 1M | $210.00 | 2026-09-03 |
| Qwen3.8 Flash | Alibaba | $0.15 | $0.47 | $0.016 | 1M | $16.05 | 2026-08-26 | |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp DeepInfra, cheapest of 2 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.44 | $1.32 | $0.014 | 1.05M | $46.20 | 2026-08-21 | |
| Qwen3.8 27B | Alibaba | $0.425 | $2.55 | $0.085 | $0.16 / $2.00 | 1.05M | $63.75 | 2026-08-14 |
| Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B | Alibaba | $2.00 | $6.00 | $0.25 | 1.05M | $210.00 | 2026-08-12 | |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813 | DeepSeek | $0.66 | $1.98 | $0.022 | 1.05M | $69.30 | 2026-08-12 | |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 Relace, cheapest of 24 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.07 | $0.14 | $0.014 | $0.048 / $0.144 | 1.05M | $6.30 | 2026-07-31 |
| Qwen3.7 Flash | Alibaba | $0.03 | $0.13 | $0.006 | 1M | $3.75 | 2026-07-27 | |
| Qwen3.7 Plus | Alibaba | $0.32 | $1.28 | $0.064 | $0.23 / $0.92 | 1M | $38.40 | 2026-06-03 |
| Qwen3.7 Max | Alibaba | $1.48 | $4.42 | $0.295 | 1M | $154.88 | 2026-05-21 | |
| Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Alibaba | $0.30 | $1.80 | 1M | $45.00 | 2026-04-27 | ||
| Qwen3.6 Flash | Alibaba | $0.1875 | $1.12 | 1M | $28.12 | 2026-04-27 | ||
| Qwen3.6 35B A3B PrimeIntellect, cheapest of 11 hosts | Alibaba | $0.011 | $0.101 | $0.01 | 262K | $2.17 | 2026-04-27 | |
| Qwen3.6 27B | Alibaba | $0.45 | $2.70 | 262K | $67.50 | 2026-04-27 | ||
| DeepSeek V4 Pro 0423 Relace, cheapest of 12 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.90 | $1.50 | $0.25 | 1.05M | $76.50 | 2026-04-24 | |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423 DeepInfra, cheapest of 13 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.09 | $0.18 | $0.018 | 1.05M | $8.10 | 2026-04-24 | |
| Qwen3.6 Plus | Alibaba | $0.325 | $1.95 | 1M | $48.75 | 2026-04-02 | ||
| Qwen3.5-9B SiliconFlow, cheapest of 6 hosts | Alibaba | $0.10 | $0.15 | 262K | $8.25 | 2026-03-10 | ||
| Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | Alibaba | $0.1625 | $1.30 | 262K | $29.25 | 2026-02-25 | ||
| Qwen3.5-27B | Alibaba | $0.195 | $1.56 | 262K | $35.10 | 2026-02-25 | ||
| Qwen3.5-122B-A10B | Alibaba | $0.26 | $2.08 | 262K | $46.80 | 2026-02-25 | ||
| Qwen3.5-Flash | Alibaba | $0.065 | $0.26 | 1M | $7.80 | 2026-02-25 | ||
| Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | Alibaba | $0.26 | $1.56 | 1M | $39.00 | 2026-02-16 | ||
| Qwen3.5 397B A17B | Alibaba | $0.39 | $2.34 | 262K | $58.50 | 2026-02-16 | ||
| Qwen3 Coder Next served by Parasail | Alibaba | $0.12 | $0.80 | $0.07 | 262K | $19.20 | 2026-02-04 | |
| DeepSeek V3.2 DeepInfra, cheapest of 7 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.26 | $0.38 | $0.13 | 164K | $21.30 | 2025-12-01 | |
| Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct served by Parasail | Alibaba | $0.25 | $0.75 | $0.12 | 262K | $26.25 | 2025-10-14 | |
| Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking served by SiliconFlow | Alibaba | $0.29 | $1.00 | 262K | $32.40 | 2025-10-06 | ||
| Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct DeepInfra, cheapest of 3 hosts | Alibaba | $0.15 | $0.60 | 262K | $18.00 | 2025-10-06 | ||
| DeepSeek V3.2 Exp served by SiliconFlow | DeepSeek | $0.27 | $0.41 | 164K | $22.35 | 2025-09-29 | ||
| Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct DeepInfra, cheapest of 3 hosts | Alibaba | $0.20 | $0.88 | $0.11 | 262K | $25.20 | 2025-09-23 | |
| DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus served by SiliconFlow | DeepSeek | $0.27 | $1.00 | 164K | $31.20 | 2025-09-22 | ||
| Qwen3 Coder Flash | Alibaba | $0.195 | $0.975 | $0.039 | 1M | $26.32 | 2025-09-17 | |
| Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct DeepInfra, cheapest of 2 hosts | Alibaba | $0.09 | $1.10 | 262K | $21.90 | 2025-09-11 | ||
| DeepSeek V3.1 DeepInfra, cheapest of 4 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.25 | $0.95 | $0.13 | 164K | $29.25 | 2025-08-21 | |
| Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct SiliconFlow, cheapest of 2 hosts | Alibaba | $0.07 | $0.28 | 262K | $8.40 | 2025-07-31 | ||
| Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 DekaLLM, cheapest of 3 hosts | Alibaba | $0.09 | $0.30 | 262K | $9.90 | 2025-07-29 | ||
| Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 served by Venice | Alibaba | $0.45 | $3.50 | 128K | $79.50 | 2025-07-25 | ||
| Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B DeepInfra, cheapest of 2 hosts | Alibaba | $0.30 | $1.00 | $0.10 | 262K | $33.00 | 2025-07-23 | |
| Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 DeepInfra, cheapest of 4 hosts | Alibaba | $0.09 | $0.55 | 262K | $13.65 | 2025-07-21 | ||
| R1 0528 DeepInfra, cheapest of 3 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.50 | $2.15 | $0.35 | 164K | $62.25 | 2025-05-28 | |
| Qwen3 30B A3B served by DeepInfra | Alibaba | $0.12 | $0.50 | 41K | $14.70 | 2025-04-28 | ||
| Qwen3 14B NextBit, cheapest of 2 hosts | Alibaba | $0.10 | $0.22 | 41K | $9.30 | 2025-04-28 | ||
| Qwen3 32B DeepInfra, cheapest of 3 hosts | Alibaba | $0.08 | $0.28 | 131K | $9.00 | 2025-04-28 | ||
| DeepSeek V3 0324 SiliconFlow, cheapest of 2 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.25 | $1.00 | 164K | $30.00 | 2025-03-24 | ||
| Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct served by Parasail | Alibaba | $0.80 | $1.00 | $0.40 | 128K | $63.00 | 2025-02-01 | |
| Qwen-Plus | Alibaba | $0.26 | $0.78 | $0.052 | 1M | $27.30 | 2025-02-01 | |
| DeepSeek V3 DeepInfra, cheapest of 2 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.32 | $0.89 | 164K | $32.55 | 2024-12-26 | ||
| Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct served by Cloudflare | Alibaba | $0.66 | $1.00 | 33K | $54.60 | 2024-11-11 | ||
| Qwen2.5 7B Instruct served by Phala | Alibaba | $0.10 | $0.20 | 33K | $9.00 | 2024-10-16 | ||
| Qwen2.5 72B Instruct served by DeepInfra | Alibaba | $0.36 | $0.40 | 33K | $27.60 | 2024-09-19 |
All Qwen prices . All DeepSeek prices . Every provider
Common questions
Is Qwen cheaper than DeepSeek?
On 10 November 2026, the median Alibaba model on this list costs $0.20 per million input tokens and $1.00 per million output tokens, against $0.265 and $0.92 for DeepSeek. By that measure Alibaba is cheaper, but compare the specific models you would use, since both providers sell models at very different price points.
What is the cheapest Qwen model compared with the cheapest DeepSeek model?
The cheapest Alibaba model on this list is Qwen3.6 35B A3B at $0.011 in and $0.101 out per million tokens. The cheapest DeepSeek model is DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 at $0.07 in and $0.14 out.
Which has the larger context window, Qwen or DeepSeek?
The largest Qwen context on this list is 1.05M tokens (Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B) and the largest DeepSeek context is 1.05M tokens (DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017).
How should I choose between Qwen and DeepSeek for a production agent?
Price per token is one input. Run both on a set of your own real cases, count how often each needs a retry or a human check, and compare the total cost of a correct answer rather than the cost of a token.
Choosing a model for a production agent
Price is one input. Quality on your own cases, latency and the cost of retries decide the rest. Tell me what you are building.