Claude Sonnet 5 vs Qwen-Plus

Both are Mid-tier models, from Anthropic and Alibaba Qwen respectively. Qwen-Plus is the cheaper choice overall at a 4:1 input:output ratio.

Which is cheaper

Input price: Qwen-Plus is cheaper ($0.40 vs $2.00).
Output price: Qwen-Plus is cheaper ($1.20 vs $10.00).
Blended, 4:1 input:output ratio: Qwen-Plus is 84.4% cheaper ($0.56 vs $3.60 per weighted 1M tokens).

Side by side

Spec	Claude Sonnet 5	Qwen-Plus
Provider	Anthropic	Alibaba Qwen
Tier	Mid	Mid
Context window	1M	1M
Max output	128K	—
Input $/1M	$2.00	$0.40
Output $/1M	$10.00	$1.20
Cache read $/1M	$0.20	—
Cache write $/1M	$2.50	—
Modalities	text, image	text

Claude Sonnet 5. 5-minute cache write shown; 1-hour cache write is $4/MTok. The page now states explicitly the previously-scheduled Sep 1 2026 increase to $3/$15 will NOT occur - $2/$10 is permanent.

Qwen-Plus. Tiered by context length: 0-256K shown ($0.4/$1.2 per 1M); 256K-1M tier is $1.2/$3.6 per 1M.

Sources

Claude Sonnet 5 — verified August 29, 2026

Qwen-Plus — verified August 29, 2026

Full Claude Sonnet 5 pricing page → · Full Qwen-Plus pricing page →