Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct leads the LLM Stats Score 20.1 to 7.6. Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is 1.7x cheaper per token.

Meta · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct leads the overall LLM Stats Score 20.1 to 7.6, ranking #197 overall.

In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct wins 3; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is roughly 1.7x 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 Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

cost matters — it's about 1.7x cheaper per token

Choose Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

overall performance matters — it scores 20.1 and ranks #197 on LLM Stats
your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 3 of 3 exact shared results
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.

Better token value: Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

4 shared

Index

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

Math

11.4#241 · 6 evals

20.6#156 · 8 evals

Tool use

24.5#36 · 4 evals

4.3#158 · 6 evals

Finance

9.3#149 · 3 evals

26.0#52 · 5 evals

Legal

9.3#131 · 3 evals

25.8#45 · 4 evals

Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

18 reported for Llama 3.1 70B Instruct · 24 for Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

3 shared

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, IFEval, MMLU-Pro).

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Sep 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct costs less

For input processing, Llama 3.1 70B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens) is 2.2x more expensive than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct ($0.09/1M tokens).

For output processing, Llama 3.1 70B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens) is 5.5x cheaper than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct ($1.10/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is more expensive than Llama 3.1 70B Instruct.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers

Wed Sep 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

Input tokens$0.20

Output tokens$0.20

Best providerLambda

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

Input tokens$0.09

Output tokens$1.10

Best providerDeepinfra

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

10.0B diff

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct has 10.0B more parameters than Llama 3.1 70B Instruct, making it 14.3% larger.

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

70.0Bparameters

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

80.0Bparameters

70.0B

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

80.0B

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Llama 3.1 70B Instruct's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

Input128,000 tokens

Output128,000 tokens

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

Input262,144 tokens

Output262,144 tokens

Wed Sep 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.1 Community License, 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.

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

Llama 3.1 Community License

Open weights

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct was released on 2025-09-10.

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is 14 months newer than Llama 3.1 70B Instruct.

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

2.1 years ago

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

Sep 10, 2025

1.0 years ago

1.1yr 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 70B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Hyperbolic, Groq, Cerebras, Together, Fireworks, Bedrock, Sambanova. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Novita.

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

Lambda

Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.20/1M

Deepinfra

Input Price:Input: $0.35/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.40/1M

Hyperbolic

Input Price:Input: $0.40/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.40/1M

Groq

Input Price:Input: $0.59/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.78/1M

Cerebras

Input Price:Input: $0.60/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M

Together

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

Fireworks

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

AWS Bedrock

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

Sambanova

Input Price:Input: $5.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $10.00/1M

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

Deepinfra

Input Price:Input: $0.09/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.10/1M

Novita

Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M

* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Llama 3.1 70B Instruct and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

✓ Preferred

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct.

Which is better, Llama 3.1 70B Instruct or Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct leads the LLM Stats Score 20.1 to 7.6. Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is made by Meta and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Llama 3.1 70B Instruct compare to Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct in benchmarks?

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct scores GSM-8K (CoT): 95.1%, ARC-C: 94.8%, API-Bank: 90.0%, IFEval: 87.5%, Multilingual MGSM (CoT): 86.9%. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct scores MMLU-Redux: 90.9%, MultiPL-E: 87.8%, IFEval: 87.6%, WritingBench: 87.3%, Creative Writing v3: 85.3%.

Is Llama 3.1 70B Instruct cheaper than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is 2.2x cheaper for input tokens. Llama 3.1 70B Instruct costs $0.20/M input and $0.20/M output via lambda. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct costs $0.09/M input and $1.10/M output via deepinfra.

What are the context window sizes for Llama 3.1 70B Instruct and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct?

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct supports 128K tokens and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Llama 3.1 70B Instruct and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (7.6 vs 20.1), context window (128K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.20 vs $0.09/M), licensing (Llama 3.1 Community License vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Llama 3.1 70B Instruct and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct?

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is developed by Meta and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct