Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Claude 3.5 Sonnet leads the LLM Stats Score 19.1 to 16.4. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is 22.9x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude 3.5 Sonnet leads the overall LLM Stats Score 19.1 to 16.4, ranking #207 overall.
The models split the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models evenly.
On price, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is roughly 22.9x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude 3.5 Sonnet
- overall performance matters — it scores 19.1 and ranks #207 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 22.9x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
1 more shared indexes
Individual benchmarks
19 reported for Claude 3.5 Sonnet · 50 for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AI2D, MMLU), while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro).
Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude 3.5 Sonnet ($3.00/1M tokens) is 20.0x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ($0.15/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude 3.5 Sonnet ($15.00/1M tokens) is 25.0x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ($0.60/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude 3.5 Sonnet is more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 200,000 tokens. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Claude 3.5 Sonnet is limited to 200,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude 3.5 Sonnet was released on 2024-10-22, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is 11 months newer than Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
Oct 22, 2024
1.9 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
12 months ago
11mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Novita.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct.