Model Comparison
R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
vs. Qwen3.5 9B (Non-reasoning)
Comparing 2 AI models · 12 benchmarks · DeepSeek, Alibaba
Recommended Pick
Al Qwen3.5 9B (Non-reasoning) 7 metric wins Strongest on: Reasoning, Intelligence, GPQA
Lowest Price
R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
$0.00/1M input price
Best Reasoning
Qwen3.5 9B (Non-reasoning)
38.2 reasoning score
Blends available reasoning benchmarks
Best for Coding
Qwen3.5 9B (Non-reasoning)
21.3 coding index
Composite Indices
Higher is better; speed and price are normalized
Standard Benchmarks
Only benchmarks with data are shown
Differences That Matter
Reasoning gap
Qwen3.5 9B (Non-reasoning) leads R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B by 16.4 points on reasoning.
Top-pick rationale
Qwen3.5 9B (Non-reasoning) wins 7 measurable categories, including Reasoning, Intelligence, GPQA, HLE.
Response Face-Off
Run one prompt through the selected models and compare response quality with live speed and cost context.
R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
DeepSeek
TTFT
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Time
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tok/s
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Tokens
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Cost
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Qwen3.5 9B (Non-reasoning)
Alibaba
TTFT
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Time
—
tok/s
—
Tokens
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Cost
—
Which answer was more useful?
Full Comparison
| Metric | De R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B | Top Pick Al Qwen3.5 9B (Non-reasoning) |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing per 1M tokens | ||
| Input Cost | $0.00/1M | $0.00/1M |
| Output Cost | $0.00/1M | $0.00/1M |
| Specifications | ||
| Organization | DeepSeek | Alibaba |
| Release Date | Jan 20, 2025 | Mar 2, 2026 |
| Performance & Speed | ||
| Throughput | — | — |
| TTFT | — | — |
| Latency | — | — |
| Composite Indices | ||
| Reasoning Score | 21.8 | 38.2 |
| Intelligence | 9.1 | 27.3 |
| Coding | — | 21.3 |
| Math | 22.0 | — |
| Standard Benchmarks | ||
| GPQA | 9.8% | 78.6% |
| MMLU Pro | 26.9% | — |
| HLE | 3.3% | 8.6% |
| LiveCodeBench | 7.0% | — |
| MATH 500 | 68.7% | — |
| AIME 2025 | 22.0% | — |
| AIME (Original) | 17.7% | — |
| SciCode | 6.6% | 27.7% |
| LCR | 0.3% | 38.0% |
| IFBench | 13.2% | 37.8% |
| TAU-bench v2 | — | 85.1% |
| TerminalBench Hard | — | 18.2% |
Key Takeaways
R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B offers the best value at $0.00/1M, making it ideal for high-volume applications and cost-conscious projects.
Qwen3.5 9B (Non-reasoning) has the strongest reasoning profile with a 38.2 reasoning score, combining the available reasoning-heavy benchmarks.
Qwen3.5 9B (Non-reasoning) reaches a 21.3 coding index, making it the top choice for software development and code generation tasks.
All models support context windows of ∞+ tokens, suitable for processing lengthy documents and maintaining extended conversations.
When to Choose Each Model
R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
- Cost-sensitive applications
- High-volume processing
Qwen3.5 9B (Non-reasoning)
- Complex reasoning tasks
- Research & analysis
- Code generation
- Software development
