Model comparison
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct vs Qwen3.6 Flash
Qwen3.6 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 38.8 to 29.0 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 6 shared benchmarks.
Alibaba (Qwen)Summary
- They share 6 benchmarks with published results for both. Qwen2.5 7B Instruct scores higher in 0 categories and Qwen3.6 Flash in 3 categories; 3 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Qwen3.6 Flash leads 39.0 to 12.6.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025: 2.5% for Qwen2.5 7B Instruct and 84.4% for Qwen3.6 Flash.
- Qwen2.5 7B Instruct is cheaper at $0.17 / $0.70 per million input/output tokens, against $0.19 / $1.13 for Qwen3.6 Flash.
- Qwen3.6 Flash accepts more context: 1M tokens versus 131K.
- Qwen2.5 7B Instruct has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | Qwen3.6 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | Alibaba (Qwen) |
| Noometry Index | 29.0 | 38.8 |
| Released | 2024-09 | 2026-04-27 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| Context window | 131K | 1M |
| Max output | 8K | 66K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $0.17 | $0.19 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $0.70 | $1.13 |
| Results tracked | 15 | 13 |
Sponsored placements are available on pages like this one. Advertise on Noometry
Category by category
Coding Not comparable
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct: 36.5 (#208), Qwen3.6 Flash: —
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | Qwen3.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 37.6% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 46.1% | — |
| ALE-Bench | — | 326.4 |
Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct: 23.8 (#124), Qwen3.6 Flash: —
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | Qwen3.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| BALROG | 7.8% | — |
Reasoning Qwen3.6 Flash leads
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct: 14.8 (#322), Qwen3.6 Flash: 29.0 (#96)
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | Qwen3.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Chess Puzzles | 0% | 20% |
| DTBench | 47.7% | 77.1% |
| LMCA | 6.4% | 31% |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 118.51 | 143.26 |
| SimpleBench | — | 35.2% |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | — | 18% |
Math Qwen3.6 Flash leads
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct: 12.6 (#306), Qwen3.6 Flash: 39.0 (#117)
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | Qwen3.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 2.5% | 84.4% |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | — | 22.5% |
| Omni-MATH | 29.4% | — |
| FrontierMath (Feb 2025 set) | — | 10.3% |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 (v1) | — | 0% |
Knowledge Qwen3.6 Flash leads
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct: 17.0 (#286), Qwen3.6 Flash: 42.1 (#100)
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | Qwen3.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 35.5% | 83.3% |
| SimpleQA Verified | — | 15.9% |
| MMLU-Pro | 53.9% | — |
| GPQA (HELM) | 34.1% | — |
| MMLU | 72.9% | — |
Instruction Following Not comparable
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct: 63.2 (#231), Qwen3.6 Flash: —
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | Qwen3.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| IFEval | 74.1% | — |
Writing & Preference Not comparable
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct: 48.8 (#195), Qwen3.6 Flash: —
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | Qwen3.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| WildBench | 73.1% | — |
Frequently asked questions
Is Qwen2.5 7B Instruct better than Qwen3.6 Flash?
Qwen3.6 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 38.8 to 29.0 on the Noometry Index.
Which is cheaper, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct or Qwen3.6 Flash?
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct is cheaper. It lists at $0.17 per million input tokens and $0.70 per million output tokens; Qwen3.6 Flash lists at $0.19 and $1.13.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3.6 Flash does, with 1M tokens against 131K.
How many benchmarks do Qwen2.5 7B Instruct and Qwen3.6 Flash share?
6 benchmarks have published results for both models. Qwen2.5 7B Instruct has 15 scored results on Noometry and Qwen3.6 Flash has 13.