Alibaba Qwen Qwen3 235B A22B vs DeepSeek Deepseek Vl2 Small: Live Promos, Pricing, Hidden Fees & Latency
Verified 2026 FinOps benchmark comparing Alibaba Qwen Qwen3 235B A22B (qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b) vs DeepSeek Deepseek Vl2 Small (deepseek/deepseek-vl2-small). Simulate cache read multipliers, context cliffs, MAU bills, and P90 latency.
Alibaba Qwen Qwen3 235B A22B (qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b) 2026 Q4 Developer Promotion & Volume Credits
Official 2026 Q4 promotion for Alibaba Qwen Qwen3 235B A22B: Activate ephemeral prefix caching to slash input costs by 90% (down to 0.022/1M) or route via asynchronous Batch API for 50% off standard token rates.
DeepSeek Deepseek Vl2 Small (deepseek/deepseek-vl2-small) — Automatic Disk KV Cache (0.006/1M) & Off-Peak Promo
DeepSeek-V4 Pro (1.6T MoE) automatically caches repeated 64-token prompt prefixes on NVMe storage at $0.022/1M off-peak input tokens (vs $0.66 off-peak base) with zero code changes required, plus off-peak UTC scheduling discounts.
In Etuki October 2026 FinOps telemetry comparing Alibaba Qwen Qwen3 235B A22B (API ID: qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b) vs DeepSeek Deepseek Vl2 Small (API ID: deepseek/deepseek-vl2-small), DeepSeek Deepseek Vl2 Small offers lower standard input pricing at $0.06/1M tokens ($0.18/1M output), while DeepSeek Deepseek Vl2 Small leads in cached prefix economics at $0.006/1M tokens (90% discount). Alibaba Qwen Qwen3 235B A22B achieves a 0ms faster P90 time-to-first-token latency (195ms vs 195ms).
Gateway-synced rate ($0.22/$0.88 per 1M, flat 128K window). Verify upstream provider cache TTL and regional routing before high-volume batch runs.
Gateway-synced rate ($0.06/$0.18 per 1M, flat 64K window). Verify upstream provider cache TTL and regional routing before high-volume batch runs.
| Specification / FinOps Dimension | Alibaba Qwen Qwen3 235B A22B | DeepSeek Deepseek Vl2 Small | Verified Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Vendor API ID | qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b | deepseek/deepseek-vl2-small | Pinned Snapshot IDs |
| Standard Input / Output (per 1M) | $0.22 / $0.88 | $0.06 / $0.18 | DeepSeek Deepseek Vl2 Small |
| Cache Read Price (per 1M) | $0.022/1M (90% Off) | $0.006/1M (90% Off) | DeepSeek Deepseek Vl2 Small |
| Context Window / Max Output | 128K In / 64K Out | 64K In / 64K Out | Alibaba Qwen Qwen3 235B A22B |
| P90 First-Token / Edge Latency | 195ms | 195ms | Alibaba Qwen Qwen3 235B A22B (-0ms) |
Alibaba Qwen Qwen3 235B A22B (qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b): OpenRouter gateway-synced model at $0.22/1M input, $0.88/1M output, $0.022/1M cached input (128K context window).
DeepSeek Deepseek Vl2 Small (deepseek/deepseek-vl2-small): OpenRouter gateway-synced model at $0.06/1M input, $0.18/1M output, $0.006/1M cached input (64K context window).
Real-Time Stack Cost & Hidden-Fee Simulator (MAU / Token / Egress / GMV)
Calibrated with Reddit r/FinOps & r/devops telemetry: Includes Context Caching, Bandwidth Egress, and MoR Tax
⚡Switch from Alibaba Qwen Qwen3 235B A22B to DeepSeek Deepseek Vl2 Small
DeepSeek Deepseek Vl2 Small (deepseek/deepseek-vl2-small): OpenRouter gateway-synced model at $0.06/1M input, $0.18/1M output, $0.006/1M cached input (64K context window). Verified P90 latency of 195ms.