OpenRouter vs Qwen API: Side-by-Side Pricing
Direct per-model price comparison for Qwen rows that have both an OpenRouter price and an official DashScope or Qwen price.
How to read this comparison
Qwen models from Alibaba ship through OpenRouter and the official DashScope endpoint. International developers usually find OpenRouter easier because of card billing and a unified API surface, while DashScope is often cheaper when you can pay in CNY and accept the regional endpoint.
This page lists every Qwen row in the current snapshot that has both an OpenRouter price and an official DashScope or Qwen price. If the table is empty, official Qwen pricing has not yet been curated for any Qwen variant in this snapshot — coverage will expand in later updates.
Per-model price match
Input and output rates in USD per 1M tokens. "Cheaper" reflects combined input + output.
| Model | Context | OpenRouter in/out | Qwen/DashScope in/out | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen: Qwen3.7 Plus | 1M | $0.40 / $1.60 | $0.40 / $1.60 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3.7 Max | 1M | $1.25 / $3.75 | $1.25 / $3.75 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | 1M | $0.30 / $1.80 | $0.30 / $1.80 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3.6 Flash | 1M | $0.19 / $1.13 | $0.19 / $1.13 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3.6 Max Preview | 256K | $1.04 / $6.24 | $1.04 / $6.24 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3.6 27B | 256K | $0.29 / $2.40 | $0.45 / $2.70 | OpenRouter |
| Qwen: Qwen3.6 Plus | 1M | $0.33 / $1.95 | $0.33 / $1.95 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | 256K | $0.14 / $1.00 | $0.16 / $1.30 | OpenRouter |
| Qwen: Qwen3.5-122B-A10B | 256K | $0.26 / $2.08 | $0.26 / $2.08 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3.5-Flash | 1M | $0.065 / $0.26 | $0.065 / $0.26 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | 1M | $0.26 / $1.56 | $0.26 / $1.56 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3.5 397B A17B | 256K | $0.39 / $2.34 | $0.39 / $2.34 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3 Max Thinking | 256K | $0.78 / $3.90 | $0.78 / $3.90 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct | 256K | $0.10 / $0.42 | $0.10 / $0.42 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking | 256K | $0.12 / $1.36 | $0.12 / $1.36 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | 256K | $0.080 / $0.50 | $0.12 / $0.46 | Qwen/DashScope |
| Qwen: Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking | 128K | $0.13 / $1.56 | $0.13 / $1.56 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct | 256K | $0.13 / $0.52 | $0.13 / $0.52 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking | 128K | $0.26 / $2.60 | $0.26 / $2.60 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct | 256K | $0.20 / $0.88 | $0.26 / $1.04 | OpenRouter |
| Qwen: Qwen3 Max | 256K | $0.78 / $3.90 | $0.78 / $3.90 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3 Coder Plus | 1M | $0.65 / $3.25 | $0.65 / $3.25 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3 Coder Flash | 1M | $0.20 / $0.97 | $0.20 / $0.97 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | 256K | $0.098 / $0.78 | $0.098 / $0.78 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct | 256K | $0.090 / $1.10 | $0.098 / $0.78 | Qwen/DashScope |
| Qwen: Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) | 1M | $0.26 / $0.78 | $0.26 / $0.78 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen Plus 0728 | 1M | $0.26 / $0.78 | $0.26 / $0.78 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen3 30B A3B Thinking 2507 | 128K | $0.080 / $0.40 | $0.13 / $1.56 | OpenRouter |
| Qwen: Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct | 160K | $0.070 / $0.27 | $0.29 / $1.46 | OpenRouter |
| Qwen: Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 | 128K | $0.048 / $0.19 | $0.13 / $0.52 | OpenRouter |
| Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 | 256K | $0.10 / $0.10 | $0.15 / $1.50 | OpenRouter |
| Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 | 256K | $0.090 / $0.10 | $0.15 / $0.60 | OpenRouter |
| Qwen: Qwen3 30B A3B | 128K | $0.12 / $0.50 | $0.13 / $0.52 | OpenRouter |
| Qwen: Qwen3 8B | 128K | $0.050 / $0.40 | $0.12 / $0.46 | OpenRouter |
| Qwen: Qwen3 14B | 129K | $0.10 / $0.24 | $0.23 / $0.91 | OpenRouter |
| Qwen: Qwen3 32B | 128K | $0.080 / $0.28 | $0.10 / $0.42 | OpenRouter |
| Qwen: Qwen3 235B A22B | 128K | $0.46 / $1.82 | $0.46 / $1.82 | Tie |
| Qwen: Qwen-Plus | 1M | $0.26 / $0.78 | $0.080 / $0.26 | Qwen/DashScope |