A model is the software that produces AI answers. This guide compares models and tools. New to this? Choose a setup path first. Use the lists below when you want more detail.

New words, in plain language

Local / cloud: Local runs on your computer. Cloud runs on computers managed online.
Model / tokens: A model produces AI answers. Tokens are small pieces of text; some services charge for the tokens used.
Account / identity: An account is a sign-in. Your cloud identity is the account you use for online services.
Connector / permissions: A connector links an AI tool to another service. Permissions are the access you allow.

Field Guide · Week of 5 October 2026

Qwen 3.6 35B-A3B

Alibaba · China · Alibaba

A 35-billion-parameter model that only runs three billion at a time. Laptop-honest mixture-of-experts.

Where it runs: Runs on your computer
Memory: 16 GB (4-bit)
Size: 35B MoE · 3B active
License: Apache 2.0
Hugging Face downloads: 3.4M
Hugging Face likes: 2.9k
Card last updated: 24 April 2026

On your computer · #4 China · #2

Why it is on this week’s list

Active size is the number that matters. This one fits where a dense 27B is tight.

Use it when

16 GB and you want more range than a 12B.

Skip it when

You prefer a dense model you can reason about simply — take 27B or Gemma 12B.

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