Model comparison
Qwen3.6 vs Gemini 3 Pro
- Input
- $0.2885 / 1M tokens
- Output
- $3.17 / 1M tokens
- Context
- 262K (extensible ~1M)
- Released
- 2026-04
- Input
- $2.00 / 1M tokens (prompts ≤ 200K; $4.00 above 200K)
- Output
- $12.00 / 1M tokens (prompts ≤ 200K; $18.00 above 200K)
- Context
- 1M
- Released
- 2025-11-18
Qwen3.6 and Gemini 3 Pro split the 4 benchmarks both report evenly; Qwen3.6 is cheaper on input tokens ($0.3 vs $2 per 1M, 6.9×); Gemini 3 Pro has the larger context window (1M vs 262K); Qwen3.6 ships open weights while Gemini 3 Pro is API-only.
Specs and pricing side by side
| Spec | Qwen3.6 | Gemini 3 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Alibaba (Qwen) | |
| Released | 2026-04 | 2025-11-18 |
| Context window | 262K (extensible ~1M) | 1M |
| Max output | ~32K (up to ~82K for complex reasoning) | 64K |
| Input price | $0.2885 / 1M tokens | $2.00 / 1M tokens (prompts ≤ 200K; $4.00 above 200K) |
| Output price | $3.17 / 1M tokens | $12.00 / 1M tokens (prompts ≤ 200K; $18.00 above 200K) |
| Parameters | 27B dense (Qwen3.6-27B); 35B total / 3B active MoE (Qwen3.6-35B-A3B) | not published |
| License | Apache 2.0 | Proprietary |
| Weights | Open weights | API only |
| Modalities | Text, Vision, Video | Text, Vision, Audio, Video, PDF |
| Knowledge cutoff | Not publicly disclosed | January 2025 |
Benchmarks both models report
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 | Gemini 3 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 77.2% | 76.2% |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0 | 59.3% | 54.2% |
| GPQA Diamond | 87.8% | 91.9% |
| MMMU Pro | 75.8% | 81% |
Scores are as published by each maker or its cited source; harness, reasoning effort and date can differ between rows, so treat small gaps as ties. Sources are listed on each model page.
Which one should you pick?
Pick Qwen3.6 if…
- You care about SWE-bench Verified, Terminal-Bench 2.0 (it scores higher on 2 shared benchmarks).
- Cost matters: input tokens cost 6.9× less ($0.3 vs $2 per 1M).
- You want to self-host or fine-tune (open weights, Apache 2.0).
- Your use case is: agentic coding and repository-level software engineering (SWE-bench / Terminal-Bench style tasks).
Pick Gemini 3 Pro if…
- You care about GPQA Diamond, MMMU Pro (it scores higher on 2 shared benchmarks).
- You need the longer context (1M vs 262K).
- You need Audio / PDF input, which Qwen3.6 lacks.
- Your use case is: complex multi-step reasoning and analysis over long documents or research material.
FAQ
Which is better, Qwen3.6 or Gemini 3 Pro?
Qwen3.6 and Gemini 3 Pro split the 4 benchmarks both report evenly; Qwen3.6 is cheaper on input tokens ($0.3 vs $2 per 1M, 6.9×); Gemini 3 Pro has the larger context window (1M vs 262K); Qwen3.6 ships open weights while Gemini 3 Pro is API-only. The better pick depends on whether you value benchmark scores, price per token, context length or openness for your workload.
How much cheaper is Qwen3.6?
Qwen3.6: $0.2885 / 1M tokens input, $3.17 / 1M tokens output. Gemini 3 Pro: $2.00 / 1M tokens (prompts ≤ 200K; $4.00 above 200K) input, $12.00 / 1M tokens (prompts ≤ 200K; $18.00 above 200K) output (list API prices as published by each maker).
What are the context windows of Qwen3.6 and Gemini 3 Pro?
Qwen3.6 offers 262K (extensible ~1M) with up to ~32K (up to ~82K for complex reasoning) output; Gemini 3 Pro offers 1M with up to 64K output.
Is Qwen3.6 newer than Gemini 3 Pro?
Qwen3.6 was released 2026-04; Gemini 3 Pro was released 2025-11-18.