DeepSeek-R1-0528 vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
DeepSeek-R1-0528 leads the LLM Stats Score 24.1 to 20.1. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is 2.7x cheaper per token.
DeepSeek · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
DeepSeek-R1-0528 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 24.1 to 20.1, ranking #173 overall.
In the 5 individual benchmarks reported for both models, DeepSeek-R1-0528 wins 5; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is roughly 2.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3-Next-80B-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 DeepSeek-R1-0528
- overall performance matters — it scores 24.1 and ranks #173 on LLM Stats
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 5 of 5 exact shared results
Choose Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
- your work emphasizes agents — it leads those capability indexes
- cost matters — it's about 2.7x 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
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
16 reported for DeepSeek-R1-0528 · 24 for Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
DeepSeek-R1-0528 outperforms in 5 benchmarks (Aider-Polyglot, AIME 2025, GPQA, MMLU-Pro, MMLU-Redux), while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.
DeepSeek-R1-0528 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, DeepSeek-R1-0528 ($0.50/1M tokens) is 5.6x more expensive than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct ($0.09/1M tokens).
For output processing, DeepSeek-R1-0528 ($2.15/1M tokens) is 2.0x more expensive than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct ($1.10/1M tokens).
In conclusion, DeepSeek-R1-0528 is more expensive than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
DeepSeek-R1-0528 has 591.0B more parameters than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct, making it 738.8% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to DeepSeek-R1-0528's 163,840 tokens. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while DeepSeek-R1-0528 is limited to 163,840 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek-R1-0528 is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
DeepSeek-R1-0528 was released on 2025-05-28, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct was released on 2025-09-10.
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is 4 months newer than DeepSeek-R1-0528.
May 28, 2025
1.3 years ago
Sep 10, 2025
1.0 years ago
3mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
DeepSeek-R1-0528 is available from DeepInfra, DeepSeek, Novita. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Novita.
DeepSeek-R1-0528
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek-R1-0528 and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek-R1-0528 vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct.