Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking leads the LLM Stats Score 18.2 to -2.6. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 17.7x cheaper per token.
Meta · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking leads the overall LLM Stats Score 18.2 to -2.6, ranking #229 overall.
In the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking wins 4; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is roughly 17.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 17.7x cheaper per token
Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
- overall performance matters — it scores 18.2 and ranks #229 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 4 of 4 exact shared results
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
18 reported for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct · 50 for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, IFEval, MMLU, MMLU-Pro).
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking 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, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.02/1M tokens) is 10.0x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking ($0.20/1M tokens).
For output processing, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens) is 33.0x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking ($0.99/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking has 23.0B more parameters than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct, making it 287.5% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 131,072 tokens. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is limited to 32,768 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking supports multimodal inputs, whereas Llama 3.1 8B Instruct does not.
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
License
Usage and distribution terms
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.1 Community License, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Llama 3.1 Community License
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is 14 months newer than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.
Jul 23, 2024
2.2 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
1.0 years ago
1.2yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-12-31, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Llama 3.1 8B Instruct's training data extends to 2023-12-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking's cutoff date.
Dec 2023
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Provider Availability
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Lambda, Groq, Sambanova, Cerebras, Hyperbolic, Together, Fireworks, Bedrock. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is available from Novita, DeepInfra.
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking.