Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs Qwen3.5 Flash: a data-driven comparison

Side-by-side comparison

Criterion	Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite	Qwen3.5 Flash
Developer	Google DeepMind	Alibaba Cloud (Qwen)
Released	May 7, 2026	February 23, 2026
Capability index	64.3 / 100	62.6 / 100
Input price	$0.25	$0.10
Output price	$1.5	$0.40
Cost of a typical task	$0.008	$0.003
Context window	1,048,576 tokens	1,000,000 tokens
Maximum output	65,536 tokens	65,536 tokens
Reasoning mode	Yes	Yes
Tool calling	Yes	Yes
Accepted inputs	text, image, video, audio, PDF	text, image, video
Open weights	No	No
Knowledge cutoff	January 2025	Not disclosed

What are we comparing?

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite and Qwen3.5 Flash are two budget models, built for high volumes at a low price, one from Google DeepMind, the other from Alibaba Cloud (Qwen). Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite was released on May 7, 2026, Qwen3.5 Flash on February 23, 2026.

All figures below come from public sources checked on October 22, 2026: models.dev and OpenRouter for prices and capabilities, Epoch AI for scores.

Which one is more capable?

On our capability index, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite scores 64.3 out of 100 and Qwen3.5 Flash 62.6. Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite leads by 1.7 points.

On the 3 benchmarks reported for both, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite wins 1 time and Qwen3.5 Flash 2:

GPQA Diamond (PhD-level science questions): Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite 81.8%, Qwen3.5 Flash 82.3%
OTIS Mock AIME (competition mathematics problems): Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite 80%, Qwen3.5 Flash 84.4%
FrontierMath (very hard research-level mathematics): Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite 27.7%, Qwen3.5 Flash 18.2%

Which one costs less?

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite costs $0.25 per million input tokens and $1.5 per million output tokens; Qwen3.5 Flash costs $0.10 and $0.40.

For a typical agent task (read 20,000 tokens, write 2,000), expect $0.008 with Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite versus $0.003 with Qwen3.5 Flash. Qwen3.5 Flash is 2.9 times cheaper, a gap that adds up quickly over 1,000 tasks: $5.2 difference.

Run the numbers with your own volumes in the agent cost calculator.

Features and limits

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite reads more in one go: 1,048,576 tokens of context (roughly 1,573 pages), versus 1,000,000 for Qwen3.5 Flash.

Reasoning mode: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite yes, Qwen3.5 Flash yes. Tool calling: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite yes, Qwen3.5 Flash yes. Image input: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite yes, Qwen3.5 Flash yes.

Neither publishes its weights: both are used through an API.

In short

Our reading of the data:

Choose Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite for a higher capability index and a more recent release.
Choose Qwen3.5 Flash for a lower cost.

This verdict relies on public figures; it does not replace a trial on your own tasks.

Frequently asked questions

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite or Qwen3.5 Flash: which is better?

On our index (Epoch AI data), Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite scores 64.3 and Qwen3.5 Flash 62.6 out of 100. The best choice also depends on price and on your use case.

Which one is cheaper?

Qwen3.5 Flash. To read 20,000 tokens and write 2,000, expect $0.008 with Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite and $0.003 with Qwen3.5 Flash (prices as of October 22, 2026).

Which one has the larger context window?

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite, with 1,048,576 tokens versus 1,000,000.

Can I run Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite or Qwen3.5 Flash on my own servers?

No: both are closed models, available through an API.

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs Qwen3.5 Flash