Grok-3 vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Grok-3 leads the LLM Stats Score 30.7 to 16.5. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is 18.5x cheaper per token.
xAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok-3 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 30.7 to 16.5, ranking #110 overall.
In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Grok-3 wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is roughly 18.5x 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 (131,072 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 Grok-3
- overall performance matters — it scores 30.7 and ranks #110 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 2 exact shared results
Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 18.5x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 131,072 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
Individual benchmarks
5 reported for Grok-3 · 50 for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Grok-3 outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA), while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.
Grok-3 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, Grok-3 ($3.00/1M tokens) is 15.0x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens).
For output processing, Grok-3 ($15.00/1M tokens) is 21.4x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ($0.70/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Grok-3 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 131,072 input tokens compared to Grok-3's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 32,768 tokens, while Grok-3 is limited to 8,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Grok-3 and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Grok-3
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Grok-3 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
Grok-3 was released on 2025-02-17, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is 7 months newer than Grok-3.
Feb 17, 2025
1.5 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
11 months ago
7mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Grok-3 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Grok-3's training data extends to 2024-11-17, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct's cutoff date.
Nov 2024
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Provider Availability
Grok-3 is available from xAI. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is available from Novita, DeepInfra.
Grok-3
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Grok-3 and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Grok-3 vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct.