Grok-4.1 vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Grok-4.1 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is 18.5x cheaper per token.
xAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok-4.1 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (Creative Writing v3), while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks. Grok-4.1 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
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.
Grok-4.1 also accepts a larger context window (256,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Grok-4.1
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
- you process long inputs — it offers a 256,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2025
Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 18.5x cheaper per token
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Grok-4.1 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (Creative Writing v3), while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.
Grok-4.1 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Grok-4.1 ($3.00/1M tokens) is 15.0x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens).
For output processing, Grok-4.1 ($15.00/1M tokens) is 21.4x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ($0.70/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Grok-4.1 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
Grok-4.1 accepts 256,000 input tokens compared to Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct's 131,072 tokens. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 32,768 tokens, while Grok-4.1 is limited to 8,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Grok-4.1 and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Grok-4.1
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Grok-4.1 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-4.1 was released on 2025-11-17, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.
Grok-4.1 is 2 months newer than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct.
Nov 17, 2025
9 months ago
1mo newerSep 22, 2025
11 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Grok-4.1 is available from xAI. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is available from Novita, DeepInfra.
Grok-4.1
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Grok-4.1 and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Grok-4.1 vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct.