Model Comparison
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Llama 3.2 11B Instruct is 6.5x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Llama 3.2 11B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct — which is better?
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct (by Meta) and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct outperforms in 1 benchmarks (AI2D), while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU, MMMU-Pro). Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
On price, Llama 3.2 11B Instruct is roughly 6.5x 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.
Choose Llama 3.2 11B Instruct if…
- cost matters — it's about 6.5x cheaper per token
Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 4 shared benchmarks
- you process long inputs — it offers a 131,072 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct outperforms in 1 benchmarks (AI2D), while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU, MMMU-Pro).
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Llama 3.2 11B Instruct ($0.05/1M tokens) is 4.0x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens).
For output processing, Llama 3.2 11B Instruct ($0.05/1M tokens) is 14.0x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ($0.70/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is more expensive than Llama 3.2 11B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct has 20.4B more parameters than Llama 3.2 11B Instruct, making it 192.5% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct accepts 131,072 input tokens compared to Llama 3.2 11B Instruct's 128,000 tokens. Llama 3.2 11B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is limited to 32,768 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Llama 3.2 11B Instruct and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.2 Community 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.
Llama 3.2 Community License
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct was released on 2024-09-25, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is 12 months newer than Llama 3.2 11B Instruct.
Sep 25, 2024
1.8 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
9 months ago
12mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-12-31, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Llama 3.2 11B Instruct's training data extends to 2023-12-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct's cutoff date.
Dec 2023
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Provider Availability
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Sambanova, Bedrock, Groq, Together, Fireworks. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is available from Novita, DeepInfra.
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Llama 3.2 11B Instruct and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Llama 3.2 11B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct.