Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Grok 4.6
Model Markets Rankings
Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency
| Ranking | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B | Grok 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v1.2 | UnrankedNot in the 22-model eligible cohort | #13 of 2267.6 score |
| CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate | UnrankedNot in the 36-model eligible cohort | #18 of 36$0.097 per LiveBench case |
| EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.0 | UnrankedNot in the 22-model eligible cohort | #8 of 2256.6 score |
Ranks come from the current complete eligible cohorts. Green highlights appear only when both models are ranked in the same metric. Missing required inputs remain unranked, and the three dimensions are not collapsed into an overall winner.
Benchmark Performance
Available Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B | Grok 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-01-011508720696 · arena_rating · statistical tie | 1,437.84100% of row best · rating · qwen3.5-397b-a17b; 95% CI [1434.48605524, 1441.19621255]; votes 73400; rank 68 | 1,443.75100% of row best · rating · grok-4.6-high; 95% CI [1433.62910542, 1453.86294509]; votes 3453; rank 55 |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above · 1 tie | 0 benchmark winsTied overall | 0 benchmark winsTied overall |
Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.
Technical Differences
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B | Grok 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Qwen | xAI |
| Family | Qwen3 5 397b A17b | Grok 4 |
| Model | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B | Grok 4.6 |
| Version | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B | Grok 4.6 |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-02-15 | Unknown |
| Knowledge cutoff | Unknown | 2026-02-01 |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 262K | 500K |
| Total parameters | 403.4B | Unknown |
| Active parameters | 17B | Unknown |
| License | apache-2.0 | Unknown |
| Open weights | Yes | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Provider access | Deepinfra (Standard), Hugging Face (Standard), Openrouter (Standard), Together Ai (Standard) | Xai (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning, tools | chat, generation, reasoning, tools |
13 comparable fields · 8 material differences · Pair passes the primary-source comparison gate
Qwen3.5 397B A17B Capabilities
Grok 4.6 Capabilities
Internal Comparison Graph
Related Comparisons
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| vs |  Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | cross-developer peersimage, text | |
| vs | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Grok 4.6 FAQs
Is Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Grok 4.6 better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Grok 4.6, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Grok 4.6?+
Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $0.45 and Grok 4.6 is $2.00 per million tokens, so Qwen3.5 397B A17B is cheaper on this metric. Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $3.00 and Grok 4.6 is $6.00 per million tokens, so Qwen3.5 397B A17B is cheaper on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Grok 4.6?+
Grok 4.6 has the larger sourced context window. Qwen3.5 397B A17B supports 262K and Grok 4.6 supports 500K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Grok 4.6?+
There is no overall benchmark winner: At least two independently verified, protocol-matched benchmarks are required for an overall winner.
Can Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Grok 4.6 be self-hosted?+
Qwen3.5 397B A17B is the only model in this pair currently marked as self-hostable. Qwen3.5 397B A17B is open weight; Grok 4.6 is not marked open weight.
Can Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Grok 4.6 understand images?+
Qwen3.5 397B A17B is documented with image input; Grok 4.6 is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Grok 4.6?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Qwen3.5 397B A17B is — and Grok 4.6 is —.
Do Qwen3.5 397B A17B and Grok 4.6 support reasoning and tool use?+
Qwen3.5 397B A17B: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Grok 4.6: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Grok 4.6?+
Qwen3.5 397B A17B has 4 sourced provider routes; Grok 4.6 has 1, so Qwen3.5 397B A17B has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Grok 4.6?+
There is no universal value winner. Compare the input and output prices above with the matched benchmark result for your workload: cheaper tokens can be offset by different quality, token usage, latency, or provider availability.