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DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B vs QwQ-32B-Preview

QwQ-32B-Preview shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

DeepSeek · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (AIME 2024), while QwQ-32B-Preview is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench, MATH-500). QwQ-32B-Preview shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jan 2025

Choose QwQ-32B-Preview

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 4 shared benchmarks

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B
DeepSeek
QwQ-32B-Preview
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Benchmark wins
1 of 4
3 of 4
Input price
— / M
$0.15 / M
Output price
— / M
$0.20 / M
Context window
—
32,768
Released
Jan 2025
Nov 2024
License
MIT
Apache 2.0

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

4 benchmarks

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (AIME 2024), while QwQ-32B-Preview is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench, MATH-500).

QwQ-32B-Preview shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Wed Aug 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

24.5B diff

QwQ-32B-Preview has 24.5B more parameters than DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B, making it 304.7% larger.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B
8.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
QwQ-32B-Preview
32.5Bparameters
8.0B
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B
32.5B
QwQ-32B-Preview

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only QwQ-32B-Preview specifies input context (32,768 tokens). Only QwQ-32B-Preview specifies output context (32,768 tokens).

DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
QwQ-32B-Preview
Input32,768 tokens
Output32,768 tokens
Wed Aug 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B is licensed under MIT, while QwQ-32B-Preview uses Apache 2.0.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B

MIT

Open weights

QwQ-32B-Preview

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B was released on 2025-01-20, while QwQ-32B-Preview was released on 2024-11-28.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B is 2 months newer than QwQ-32B-Preview.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B

Jan 20, 2025

1.6 years ago

1mo newer
QwQ-32B-Preview

Nov 28, 2024

1.7 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

QwQ-32B-Preview has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-28, while DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm QwQ-32B-Preview's training data extends to 2024-11-28, but cannot make a direct comparison without DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B's cutoff date.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B

—

QwQ-32B-Preview

Nov 2024

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B and QwQ-32B-Preview side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B
✓ Preferred
QwQ-32B-Preview
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B vs QwQ-32B-Preview.

Which is better, DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B or QwQ-32B-Preview?

QwQ-32B-Preview shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B is made by DeepSeek and QwQ-32B-Preview is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B compare to QwQ-32B-Preview in benchmarks?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B scores MATH-500: 89.1%, AIME 2024: 80.0%, GPQA: 49.0%, LiveCodeBench: 39.6%. QwQ-32B-Preview scores MATH-500: 90.6%, GPQA: 65.2%, AIME 2024: 50.0%, LiveCodeBench: 50.0%.

What are the context window sizes for DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B and QwQ-32B-Preview?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B supports an unknown number of tokens and QwQ-32B-Preview supports 33K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B and QwQ-32B-Preview?

Key differences include licensing (MIT vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B and QwQ-32B-Preview?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B is developed by DeepSeek and QwQ-32B-Preview is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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