Model Comparison

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is 1.4x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct outperforms in 1 benchmarks (IFEval), while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is better at 2 benchmarks (MMLU, MMLU-Pro).

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Tue Apr 14 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct costs less

For input processing, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct ($0.89/1M tokens) is 2.0x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking ($0.45/1M tokens).

For output processing, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct ($0.89/1M tokens) is 3.9x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking ($3.49/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is more expensive than Llama 3.1 405B Instruct.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers

Tue Apr 14 2026 • llm-stats.com

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Input tokens$0.89

Output tokens$0.89

Best providerLambda

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Input tokens$0.45

Output tokens$3.49

Best providerDeepinfra

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Model Size

Parameter count comparison

169.0B diff

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct has 169.0B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking, making it 71.6% larger.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

405.0Bparameters

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

236.0Bparameters

405.0B

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

236.0B

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Llama 3.1 405B Instruct's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Input128,000 tokens

Output128,000 tokens

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Input262,144 tokens

Output262,144 tokens

Tue Apr 14 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking supports multimodal inputs, whereas Llama 3.1 405B Instruct does not.

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Text

Images

Audio

Video

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Text

Images

Audio

Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.1 Community License, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking uses Apache 2.0.

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

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Llama 3.1 Community License

Open weights

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is 14 months newer than Llama 3.1 405B Instruct.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

1.7 years ago

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Sep 22, 2025

6 months ago

1.2yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Fireworks, Bedrock, Together, Hyperbolic, Google, Replicate. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is available from DeepInfra, Novita.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Lambda

Input Price:Input: $0.89/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.89/1M

Deepinfra

Input Price:Input: $1.79/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.79/1M

Fireworks

Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.00/1M

AWS Bedrock

Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.00/1M

Together

Input Price:Input: $3.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.50/1M

Hyperbolic

Input Price:Input: $4.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $4.00/1M

Google

Input Price:Input: $5.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $16.00/1M

Replicate

Input Price:Input: $9.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $9.50/1M

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Deepinfra

Input Price:Input: $0.45/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.49/1M

Novita

Input Price:Input: $0.98/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.95/1M

* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

View details

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Larger context window (262,144 tokens)

Supports multimodal inputs

Less expensive input tokens

Higher MMLU score (90.6% vs 87.3%)

Higher MMLU-Pro score (83.8% vs 73.3%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature	Llama 3.1 405B Instruct	Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

FAQ

Common questions about Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is made by Meta and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct scores ARC-C: 96.9%, GSM8k: 96.8%, API-Bank: 92.0%, Multilingual MGSM (CoT): 91.6%, HumanEval: 89.0%. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking scores ZebraLogic: 97.3%, DocVQAtest: 96.5%, ScreenSpot: 95.4%, CountBench: 93.7%, MMLU-Redux: 93.7%.

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is 2.0x cheaper for input tokens. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct costs $0.89/M input and $0.89/M output via lambda. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking costs $0.45/M input and $3.49/M output via deepinfra.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct supports 128K tokens and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

Key differences include context window (128K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.89 vs $0.45/M), multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Llama 3.1 Community License vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is developed by Meta and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Performance Benchmarks

Arena Performance

Pricing Analysis

Model Size

Context Window

Input Capabilities

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

License

Release Timeline

Knowledge Cutoff

Provider Availability

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Outputs Comparison

Key Takeaways

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

Detailed Comparison

FAQ

Which is better, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking?

How does Llama 3.1 405B Instruct compare to Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking in benchmarks?

Is Llama 3.1 405B Instruct cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking?

What are the context window sizes for Llama 3.1 405B Instruct and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking?

What are the main differences between Llama 3.1 405B Instruct and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking?

Who makes Llama 3.1 405B Instruct and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking?