Alibaba Cloud: Models Intelligence, Performance & Price
Analysis of Alibaba Cloud's models across key metrics including quality, price, output speed, latency, context window & more. This analysis is intended to support you in choosing the best model provided by Alibaba Cloud for your use-case.
Most Intelligent
Qwen3.5 397B A17BQwen3.5 27BQwen3.5 122B A10BQwen3.5 397B A17BQwen3 Max ThinkingIntelligence index
Total 49 models
Fastest
Qwen3 0.6BQwen3 0.6BQwen3.5 35B A3BQwen3.5 35B A3BQwen3 Next 80B A3BOutput speed
Total 49 models
Lowest Price
Qwen2.5 TurboQwen3 1.7BQwen3 0.6BQwen3 4BQwen3 VL 8BBlended price (per 1M tokens)
Total 49 models
Alibaba Cloud offers 49 models, each with different intelligence, performance, and pricing characteristics. Below is a comparison of the key metrics across models.
- For intelligence, the top models on Alibaba Cloud are Qwen3.5 397B A17B (45), Qwen3.5 27B (42), Qwen3.5 122B A10B (42).
- For output speed, the fastest models are Qwen3 0.6B (194 t/s), Qwen3 0.6B (193 t/s), Qwen3.5 35B A3B (179 t/s).
- For latency, Qwen3 0.6B (1.60s), Qwen3 0.6B (1.69s), Qwen3 1.7B (1.77s) offer the lowest time to first token.
- For pricing, Qwen2.5 Turbo ($0.09), Qwen3 1.7B ($0.19), Qwen3 0.6B ($0.19) offer the lowest blended prices per 1M tokens. Prices vary up to 3.5x across models.
- For context window size, Qwen2.5 Turbo (1m), Qwen3.5 397B A17B (262k), Qwen3.5 27B (262k) support the largest context windows on Alibaba Cloud.
Intelligence Evaluations
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index
Intelligence Evaluations
Intelligence vs. Price
Context Window
Context Window
JSON Mode & Function Calling
Function (Tool) Calling & JSON Mode
| Models | Function calling | JSON Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Qwen3.5 397B A17B, Alibaba Cloud | ||
| Qwen3.5 27B, Alibaba Cloud | ||
| Qwen3.5 122B A10B, Alibaba Cloud | ||
| Qwen3.5 397B A17B, Alibaba Cloud | ||
| Qwen3 Max Thinking, Alibaba Cloud | ||
| Qwen3.5 27B, Alibaba Cloud | ||
| Qwen3.5 35B A3B, Alibaba Cloud | ||
| Qwen3.5 122B A10B, Alibaba Cloud | ||
| Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview), Alibaba Cloud | ||
| Qwen3 Max, Alibaba Cloud | ||
| Qwen3.5 35B A3B, Alibaba Cloud | ||
| Qwen3 235B A22B 2507, Alibaba Cloud |
Pricing
Intelligence vs. Price
Performance Summary
Output Speed vs. Price
Speed
Measured by Output Speed (tokens per second)
Output Speed
Latency
Measured by Time (seconds) to First Token
Time to First Answer Token
End-to-End Response Time
Seconds to output 500 Tokens, calculated based on time to first token, 'thinking' time for reasoning models, and output speed
End-to-End Response Time vs. Price
Key definitions
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Alibaba Cloud
Alibaba Cloud offers 49 models that we track: Qwen3.5 397B A17B, Qwen3.5 27B, Qwen3.5 122B A10B, Qwen3.5 397B A17B, Qwen3 Max Thinking, Qwen3.5 27B, Qwen3.5 35B A3B, Qwen3.5 122B A10B, Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview), Qwen3 Max, Qwen3.5 35B A3B, Qwen3 235B A22B 2507, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B, Qwen3 Max (Preview), Qwen3 235B 2507, Qwen3 Coder 480B, Qwen3 VL 32B, Qwen3 30B A3B 2507, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B, Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B, Qwen3 235B, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B, Qwen3 VL 32B, Qwen3 235B, Qwen3 VL 8B, Qwen3 32B, Qwen3 14B, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B, Qwen3 Omni 30B A3B, Qwen3 30B, Qwen3 30B A3B 2507, Qwen3 VL 8B, Qwen3 8B, Qwen3 14B, Qwen3 30B, Qwen3 Omni 30B A3B, Qwen3 8B, Qwen3 1.7B, Qwen3 1.7B, Qwen3 0.6B, Qwen3 0.6B, Qwen2.5 Max, Qwen2.5 72B, Qwen2.5 Turbo, Qwen3 4B, Qwen3 32B, and Qwen3 4B.
The most intelligent model available on Alibaba Cloud is Qwen3.5 397B A17B with an Intelligence Index score of 45.
The fastest model on Alibaba Cloud by output speed is Qwen3 0.6B at 194.4 tokens per second.
The model with the lowest time to first token on Alibaba Cloud is Qwen3 0.6B at 1.60s. Lower latency means faster initial response time.
The most affordable model on Alibaba Cloud by blended price is Qwen2.5 Turbo at $0.09 per 1M tokens (3:1 input to output ratio).
Prices on Alibaba Cloud vary up to 34x across models, from $0.09 per 1M tokens for Qwen2.5 Turbo to $3.00 per 1M tokens for Qwen3 Coder 480B.
Yes, Alibaba Cloud offers an OpenAI-compatible API, making it easy to switch from OpenAI or use existing OpenAI SDK integrations.
42 of 49 models on Alibaba Cloud support JSON mode for structured output.
Yes, all 49 models on Alibaba Cloud support function calling (tool use).
Yes, Alibaba Cloud offers 22 reasoning models: Qwen3.5 397B A17B, Qwen3.5 27B, Qwen3.5 122B A10B, Qwen3 Max Thinking, Qwen3.5 35B A3B, Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview), Qwen3 235B A22B 2507, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B, Qwen3 VL 32B, Qwen3 30B A3B 2507, Qwen3 235B, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B, Qwen3 VL 8B, Qwen3 32B, Qwen3 14B, Qwen3 Omni 30B A3B, Qwen3 30B, Qwen3 8B, Qwen3 1.7B, Qwen3 0.6B, and Qwen3 4B. Reasoning models use extended thinking to work through complex problems before providing an answer.
Yes, 43 of 49 models on Alibaba Cloud are open weight models: Qwen3.5 397B A17B, Qwen3.5 27B, Qwen3.5 122B A10B, Qwen3.5 397B A17B, Qwen3.5 27B, Qwen3.5 35B A3B, Qwen3.5 122B A10B, Qwen3.5 35B A3B, Qwen3 235B A22B 2507, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B, Qwen3 235B 2507, Qwen3 Coder 480B, Qwen3 VL 32B, Qwen3 30B A3B 2507, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B, Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B, Qwen3 235B, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B, Qwen3 VL 32B, Qwen3 235B, Qwen3 VL 8B, Qwen3 32B, Qwen3 14B, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B, Qwen3 Omni 30B A3B, Qwen3 30B, Qwen3 30B A3B 2507, Qwen3 VL 8B, Qwen3 8B, Qwen3 14B, Qwen3 30B, Qwen3 Omni 30B A3B, Qwen3 8B, Qwen3 1.7B, Qwen3 1.7B, Qwen3 0.6B, Qwen3 0.6B, Qwen2.5 72B, Qwen3 4B, Qwen3 32B, and Qwen3 4B.
Yes, provider performance can vary over time due to infrastructure changes, load balancing, and updates. We continuously benchmark all providers and display historical performance trends in the "Over Time" charts.
When choosing a model on Alibaba Cloud, consider: intelligence (for quality-sensitive tasks), output speed (for throughput-intensive tasks), latency (for interactive applications requiring quick first responses), pricing (for cost-sensitive workloads), and features like context window size, JSON mode, or function calling support.