SD 3.5 Medium vs Molmo 72B

Compare SD 3.5 Medium and Molmo 72B: pricing, performance, context window, latency, and best use cases. Side-by-side comparison on XALEN.

Updated 2026-05-21 · By Abhishek Raj · Our methodology

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Feature SD 3.5 Medium Molmo 72B
CategoryImageVision
Parameters2.5B72B
Context WindowN/A128K
Input Price$0.003/image/1M tokens$0.04/1M tokens
Output PriceN/A/1M tokens$0.08/1M tokens
Latency~2s~350ms

Choose SD 3.5 Medium when:

  • ✓ General imagery
  • ✓ Batch generation
  • ✓ Prototyping
Key Strengths:

Good quality, Fast, Open weights

Choose Molmo 72B when:

  • ✓ Visual grounding
  • ✓ Object detection
  • ✓ Research
Key Strengths:

Fully open, Good pointing/grounding, Transparent

Verdict: SD 3.5 Medium vs Molmo 72B

For cost efficiency, SD 3.5 Medium wins at $0.003/image/1M input tokens. For speed, SD 3.5 Medium is faster at ~2s. SD 3.5 Medium excels at General imagery while Molmo 72B is better for Visual grounding. Both are available on XALEN through a single API — try them in the Playground to see which fits your workload.

Detailed Analysis

Pricing Comparison

SD 3.5 Medium costs $0.003/image/1M input tokens and N/A/1M output tokens. Molmo 72B costs $0.04 input and $0.08 output. SD 3.5 Medium is 13.3x cheaper on input tokens. XALEN offers batch processing at 50% discount on both models.

Performance & Context

SD 3.5 Medium has a N/A context window with ~2s latency. Molmo 72B offers 128K context at ~350ms. Molmo 72B has the larger context window.

Best For

SD 3.5 Medium (Image) is optimized for: General imagery, Batch generation, Prototyping. Molmo 72B (Vision) works best for: Visual grounding, Object detection, Research.

Try Both on XALEN

Both models are available through XALEN's OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between them by changing the model parameter:

from xalen import XALEN

client = XALEN(api_key="xln_test_YOUR_KEY")

# Use SD 3.5 Medium
response_a = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="stable-diffusion-3-5-medium",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

# Use Molmo 72B
response_b = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="molmo-72b",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

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Get API Key Try in Playground

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, SD 3.5 Medium or Molmo 72B?

SD 3.5 Medium (Image, 2.5B) offers Good quality. Molmo 72B (Vision, 72B) offers Fully open. Choose SD 3.5 Medium for General imagery or Molmo 72B for Visual grounding.

How much does SD 3.5 Medium cost vs Molmo 72B?

SD 3.5 Medium: $0.003/image/1M input, N/A/1M output. Molmo 72B: $0.04/1M input, $0.08/1M output. Both available on XALEN with batch processing at 50% discount.

Can I use both models on XALEN?

Yes. XALEN provides 200+ models through a single OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between SD 3.5 Medium and Molmo 72B by changing the model parameter. No code changes needed.

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Last updated: 2026-05-21. Pricing and specifications may change. Check pricing page for latest rates.