Model Comparison
Magistral Medium vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.
Verdict: Magistral Medium vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct — which is better?
Magistral Medium (by Mistral AI) 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.
Magistral Medium outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (AIME 2025). Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.
Choose Magistral Medium if…
- you are already invested in the Mistral AI ecosystem
Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct if…
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Magistral Medium outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (AIME 2025).
Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct has 7.0B more parameters than Magistral Medium, making it 29.2% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct specifies output context (32,768 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Magistral Medium and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Magistral Medium
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.
Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Magistral Medium was released on 2025-06-10, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is 3 months newer than Magistral Medium.
Jun 10, 2025
1.1 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
10 months ago
3mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Magistral Medium has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-06-01, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Magistral Medium's training data extends to 2025-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct's cutoff date.
Jun 2025
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Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Magistral Medium
View detailsMistral AI
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Magistral Medium and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Magistral Medium vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct.