Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 1, 2026

Qwen 2.5 Plus vs Yi-Lightning benchmark

Name: Qwen 2.5 Plus vs Yi-Lightning AI benchmark comparison
Creator: CompareLLM
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this head-to-head showdown, Yi-Lightning delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,475 vs 1,445), while Yi-Lightning leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (63.4%), while Yi-Lightning is more budget-friendly at $0.14/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Share Analysis:

Verified Head-to-Head Advantage Breakdown

10 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost

Qwen 2.5 Plus (1)Yi-Lightning (9)

Qwen 2.5 Plus

1 of 10 Wins

✓Context window

Yi-Lightning

9 of 10 Wins

✓Preference Elo✓Coding Elo✓LiveBench✓SWE-bench✓GPQA Diamond✓Time to first token✓Output speed✓Input price✓Output price

Alibaba

Leads 1 of 10 metrics

Qwen 2.5 Plus

Alibaba balanced flagship API model with high-throughput general reasoning.

Elo 1,445$1/1M out

01.AI

Leads 9 of 10 metrics

Yi-Lightning

01.AI ultra-fast reasoning model delivering top LiveBench efficiency.

LightningElo 1,475$0.14/1M out

Top Rival Showdowns for Qwen 2.5 Plus

All Matchups

Compare vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5 vs GPT-5 vs Gemini 3 Pro vs Grok 4.6 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro

Preference LeaderYi-Lightning Wins

Yi-Lightning

Δ 30 Arena Elo pts

Throughput LeaderYi-Lightning Wins

Yi-Lightning

130 tok/s

Value per Dollar LeaderYi-Lightning Wins

Yi-Lightning

$0.14 / 1M output

Capability Percentiles

Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Leaders Matchup Capability Radar

Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.

Tap any node to inspect

Percentile 0–100

Head-to-Head Comparison

Overall Matchup Breakdown

Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.

Qwen 2.5 Plus (1)vsYi-Lightning (9)

Qwen 2.5 Plus: 1W (10%)Overall: Yi-LightningYi-Lightning: 9W (90%)

← Qwen 2.5 PlusYi-Lightning →

🏆Yi-Lightning(5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Benchmark

Qwen 2.5 PlusvsYi-Lightning

Preference Elo

1,445vs1,475+30

Coding Elo

1,460vs1,480+20

SWE-bench

59.2%vs63.4%+4.2%

LiveBench

63.5%vs65%+1.5%

GPQA Diamond

75.8%vs78%+2.2%

Qwen 2.5 Plus: 0WYi-Lightning: 5W

🏆Yi-Lightning(2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Benchmark

Qwen 2.5 PlusvsYi-Lightning

Output speed

110 tok/svs130 tok/s+20 tok/s

Time to first token

180 msvs150 ms+30 ms

Qwen 2.5 Plus: 0WYi-Lightning: 2W

🏆Yi-Lightning(2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Benchmark

Qwen 2.5 PlusvsYi-Lightning

Output price

$1/1Mvs$0.14/1M+$0.86/1M

Input price

$0.25/1Mvs$0.14/1M+$0.11/1M

Context window

128kvs16k+112k

Qwen 2.5 Plus: 1WYi-Lightning: 2W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Preference Elo+30

Qwen 2.5 Plus1,445

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Yi-Lightning1,475

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Coding Elo+20

Qwen 2.5 Plus1,460

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Yi-Lightning1,480

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

LiveBench+1.5%

Qwen 2.5 Plus63.5%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Yi-Lightning65%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

SWE-bench+4.2%

Qwen 2.5 Plus59.2%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Yi-Lightning63.4%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

GPQA Diamond+2.2%

Qwen 2.5 Plus75.8%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Yi-Lightning78%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Time to first token+30 ms

Qwen 2.5 Plus180 ms

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Yi-Lightning150 ms

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Output speed+20 tok/s

Qwen 2.5 Plus110 tok/s

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Yi-Lightning130 tok/s

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Input price+$0.11/1M

Qwen 2.5 Plus$0.25/1M

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Yi-Lightning$0.14/1M

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Output price+$0.86/1M

Qwen 2.5 Plus$1/1M

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Yi-Lightning$0.14/1M

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Context window+112k

Qwen 2.5 Plus128k

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Yi-Lightning16k

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

Benchmark	Qwen 2.5 Plus	Yi-Lightning	Advantage Delta
Preference Elo	1,445 seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	1,475 seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+30
Coding Elo	1,460 seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	1,480 seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+20
LiveBench	63.5% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	65% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+1.5%
SWE-bench	59.2% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	63.4% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+4.2%
GPQA Diamond	75.8% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	78% seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+2.2%
Time to first token	180 ms seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	150 ms seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+30 ms
Output speed	110 tok/s seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	130 tok/s seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+20 tok/s
Input price	$0.25/1M seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	$0.14/1M seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+$0.11/1M
Output price	$1/1M seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	$0.14/1M seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+$0.86/1M
Context window	128k seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	16k seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026	+112k

Interactive Simulator (USD)

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).

Save up to 71% with Yi-Lightning

Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo

Quick Presets:

Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out

RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)

Qwen 2.5 Plus$23.75 / mo

In: $8.75Out: $15

Yi-Lightning$7.00 / mo

In: $4.9Out: $2.1

Estimated Cost Delta

Yi-Lightning is estimated to save $16.75/month ($201/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

1
Yi-Lightning:Pick Yi-Lightning when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
2
Yi-Lightning:Pick Yi-Lightning when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.
3
Yi-Lightning:Pick Yi-Lightning as the default general assistant.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsYi-Lightning

Higher SWE-bench (63.4%).

High-volume chatYi-Lightning

Lower output list price ($0.14/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIYi-Lightning

Lower TTFT (150 ms).

Long-document RAGQwen 2.5 Plus

Larger window (128k).

Screenshots / visionQwen 2.5 Plus

Qwen 2.5 Plus is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	Yi-Lightning	Higher SWE-bench (63.4%).
High-volume chat	Yi-Lightning	Lower output list price ($0.14/1M).
Voice / low-latency UI	Yi-Lightning	Lower TTFT (150 ms).
Long-document RAG	Qwen 2.5 Plus	Larger window (128k).
Screenshots / vision	Qwen 2.5 Plus	Qwen 2.5 Plus is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Community Sentiment

Cast Your Matchup Vote

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Community Discussions (0)

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CompareLLM AI Matrix

Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry

LIVE BENCHMARK

Alibaba

Qwen 2.5 Plus

Elo 1,445

SWE-bench59.2%

Speed (tok/s)110 tok/s

Input / 1M Tokens$0.25/1M

Output / 1M Tokens$1/1M

01.AI

Yi-Lightning

Elo 1,475

SWE-bench63.4%

Speed (tok/s)130 tok/s

Input / 1M Tokens$0.14/1M

Output / 1M Tokens$0.14/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Qwen 2.5 Plus or Yi-Lightning?: Yi-Lightning has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,475). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.
Which is better at coding, Qwen 2.5 Plus or Yi-Lightning?: Yi-Lightning leads SWE-bench at 63.4% vs 59.2%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?: Yi-Lightning output tokens are $0.14/1M versus $1/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, Qwen 2.5 Plus or Yi-Lightning?: Yi-Lightning has the lower time-to-first-token (150 ms vs 180 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?: Qwen 2.5 Plus accepts 128k tokens versus 16k.
Can I self-host either model?: Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?: No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?: Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. Qwen 2.5 Plus and Yi-Lightning Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All Qwen 2.5 Plus matchups →|All Yi-Lightning matchups →

Qwen 2.5 Plus vs Qwen 2.5 Coder 32B (next qwen)Yi-Lightning vs Yi-Large (previous other)Yi-Lightning vs Ernie 4.5 Turbo (next other)Qwen 3 Max vs Yi-Lightning Qwen QwQ 32B vs Yi-Lightning Yi-Large vs Qwen 2.5 Plus

Qwen 2.5 Plus vs Yi-Lightning benchmark

Capability Percentiles

Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Leaders Matchup Capability Radar

Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.

Tap any node to inspect

Percentile 0–100

Benchmark

Qwen 2.5 Plus

Yi-Lightning

Advantage Delta

Preference Elo

1,445

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

1,475

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+30

Coding Elo

1,460

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

1,480

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+20

LiveBench

63.5%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

65%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+1.5%

SWE-bench

59.2%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

63.4%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+4.2%

GPQA Diamond

75.8%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

78%

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+2.2%

Time to first token

180 ms

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

150 ms

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+30 ms

Output speed

110 tok/s

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

130 tok/s

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+20 tok/s

Input price

$0.25/1M

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

$0.14/1M

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+$0.11/1M

Output price

$1/1M

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

$0.14/1M

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+$0.86/1M

Context window

128k

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

16k

seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026

+112k

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsYi-Lightning

Higher SWE-bench (63.4%).

High-volume chatYi-Lightning

Lower output list price ($0.14/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIYi-Lightning

Lower TTFT (150 ms).

Long-document RAGQwen 2.5 Plus

Larger window (128k).

Screenshots / visionQwen 2.5 Plus

Qwen 2.5 Plus is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	Yi-Lightning	Higher SWE-bench (63.4%).
High-volume chat	Yi-Lightning	Lower output list price ($0.14/1M).
Voice / low-latency UI	Yi-Lightning	Lower TTFT (150 ms).
Long-document RAG	Qwen 2.5 Plus	Larger window (128k).
Screenshots / vision	Qwen 2.5 Plus	Qwen 2.5 Plus is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Qwen 2.5 Plus or Yi-Lightning?

Yi-Lightning has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,475). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.

Which is better at coding, Qwen 2.5 Plus or Yi-Lightning?

Yi-Lightning leads SWE-bench at 63.4% vs 59.2%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.

Which is cheaper to run in production?

Yi-Lightning output tokens are $0.14/1M versus $1/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.

Which is faster, Qwen 2.5 Plus or Yi-Lightning?

Yi-Lightning has the lower time-to-first-token (150 ms vs 180 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.

Which has the larger context window?

Qwen 2.5 Plus accepts 128k tokens versus 16k.

Can I self-host either model?

Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.

Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?

No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.

What does preference Elo mean on this page?

Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. Qwen 2.5 Plus and Yi-Lightning Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.