Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is 39.0x cheaper per token.
Meta · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, IFEval). Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is roughly 39.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (128,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 39.0x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 128,000 token context window
Choose Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, IFEval).
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct ($0.01/1M tokens) is 15.0x cheaper than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking ($0.15/1M tokens).
For output processing, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct ($0.02/1M tokens) is 75.0x cheaper than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking ($1.50/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is more expensive than Llama 3.2 3B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking has 76.8B more parameters than Llama 3.2 3B Instruct, making it 2392.2% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking's 65,536 tokens. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is limited to 65,536 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.2 Community License, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking 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 3B Instruct was released on 2024-09-25, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking was released on 2025-09-10.
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is 12 months newer than Llama 3.2 3B Instruct.
Sep 25, 2024
1.9 years ago
Sep 10, 2025
11 months ago
11mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is available from DeepInfra. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is available from Novita.
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Llama 3.2 3B Instruct and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking.