AI model comparison

Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Gemini 3 Flash Preview

Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.

The Qwen3.5 series 397B-A17B native vision-language model is built on a hybrid architecture that integrates a linear attention mechanism with a sparse mixture-of-experts model, achieving higher inference efficiency.

Input / 1M
$0.55
Output / 1M
$3.50
Context
262K

Gemini 3 Flash Preview is a high speed, high value thinking model designed for agentic workflows, multi turn chat, and coding assistance.

Input / 1M
$0.50
Output / 1M
$3
Context
1.05M

At a glance

Quick verdict

How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.

Lower price

google logo

Gemini 3 Flash Preview

1.1x cheaper for a typical chat

Higher intelligence score

google logo

Gemini 3 Flash Preview

26.3 vs 21.4 on Artificial Analysis

Larger context window

google logo

Gemini 3 Flash Preview

1.05M vs 262K tokens

Newer release

qwen logo

Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Released February 16, 2026

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores

Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.

Intelligence index

qwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17B21.4
google logoGemini 3 Flash Preview26.3

Coding index

qwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17BNot available
google logoGemini 3 Flash PreviewNot available

Agentic index

qwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17BNot available
google logoGemini 3 Flash PreviewNot available

Pricing

Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Gemini 3 Flash Preview API pricing

Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.

Metricqwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17Bgoogle logoGemini 3 Flash Preview
Input tokensPer 1M tokens$0.55$0.50
Output tokensPer 1M tokens$3.50$3
Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens$0.22$0.05
Cache writePer 1M tokensNot available$0.08
Web searchPer requestNot available$0.014

What it costs in practice

Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.

Chat message

2K in, 500 out

qwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17B$2.85
google logoGemini 3 Flash Preview$2.50

Coding task

30K in, 4K out

qwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17B$30.50$20.75 cached
google logoGemini 3 Flash Preview$27$13.50 cached

Long document summary

150K in, 2K out

qwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17B$89.50$40.75 cached
google logoGemini 3 Flash Preview$81$13.50 cached

Specs

Context window and capabilities

How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.

Metricqwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17Bgoogle logoGemini 3 Flash Preview
Context window262K tokens1.05M tokens
Max output236K tokens66K tokens
Input typesImage, Text, VideoAudio, File, Image, Text, Video
Output typesTextText
Reasoning effort levelsNot availableHigh, Medium, Low, Minimal
Default reasoning effortNot availableMedium
Release dateFebruary 16, 2026December 17, 2025

Features

Supported features

API features available for each model.

Metricqwen logoQwen3.5 397B A17Bgoogle logoGemini 3 Flash Preview
Tool callingSupportedSupported
Structured outputsSupportedSupported
JSON modeSupportedSupported
ReasoningSupportedSupported
TemperatureSupportedSupported
Stop sequencesSupportedSupported
Deterministic seedSupportedSupported
Verbosity controlNot supportedNot supported

Our take

Gemini 3 Flash Preview is 1.1x cheaper for a typical chat. Gemini 3 Flash Preview scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (26.3 vs 21.4). Gemini 3 Flash Preview has the larger context window (1.05M vs 262K tokens). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Gemini 3 Flash Preview cheaper?

Gemini 3 Flash Preview is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). Gemini 3 Flash Preview costs $0.50 per 1M input tokens and $3 per 1M output tokens, while Qwen3.5 397B A17B costs $0.55 per 1M input tokens and $3.50 per 1M output tokens.

Which has a bigger context window, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Gemini 3 Flash Preview?

Gemini 3 Flash Preview supports up to 1.05M tokens of context, compared with 262K for Qwen3.5 397B A17B.

Is Qwen3.5 397B A17B smarter than Gemini 3 Flash Preview?

On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Qwen3.5 397B A17B scores 21.4 and Gemini 3 Flash Preview scores 26.3, putting Gemini 3 Flash Preview ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.

Can I use Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Gemini 3 Flash Preview at the same time?

Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Gemini 3 Flash Preview answer side by side and keep the better response.

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Why choose? Ask both.

Send one prompt to Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Gemini 3 Flash Preview at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.