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Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking are closely matched at 11.3 and 18.3 on the LLM Stats Score. Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is 4.0x cheaper per token.

Mistral AI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 11.3 and 18.3.

In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is roughly 4.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) also accepts a larger context window (131,100 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 Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)

  • cost matters — it's about 4.0x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 131,100 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025

Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 2 exact shared results

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Core performance indexes
11.3
#248
18.3
#202
11.6
#242
19.5
#188
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
0 of 2
2 of 2
Input price
$0.10 / M
$0.20 / M
Output price
$0.10 / M
$0.99 / M
Context window
131,100
131,072

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
13.0#224
22.5#130
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

4 reported for Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) · 50 for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

2 shared

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA).

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Sep 04 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) costs less

For input processing, Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) ($0.10/1M tokens) is 2.0x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking ($0.20/1M tokens).

For output processing, Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) ($0.10/1M tokens) is 9.9x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking ($0.99/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is more expensive than Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512).*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Fri Sep 04 2026 • llm-stats.com
Mistral AI
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.10
Best providerMistral
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Input tokens$0.20
Output tokens$0.99
Best providerNovita
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

28.0B diff

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking has 28.0B more parameters than Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512), making it 933.3% larger.

Mistral AI
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
3.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
31.0Bparameters
3.0B
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
31.0B
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) accepts 131,100 input tokens compared to Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking's 131,072 tokens. Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) can generate longer responses up to 131,100 tokens, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is limited to 32,768 tokens.

Mistral AI
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
Input131,100 tokens
Output131,100 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Input131,072 tokens
Output32,768 tokens
Fri Sep 04 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.

Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) was released on 2025-12-04, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is 2 months newer than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)

Dec 4, 2025

9 months ago

2mo newer
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

Sep 22, 2025

11 months ago

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

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is available from Mistral AI. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is available from Novita, DeepInfra.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.10/1M

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.00/1M
deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.29/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.99/1M
* 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 Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
✓ Preferred
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking.

Which is better, Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) or Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking are closely matched on the LLM Stats Score at 11.3 and 18.3. Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is made by Mistral AI and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking 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 Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) compare to Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking in benchmarks?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) scores AIME 2024: 77.5%, AIME 2025: 72.1%, LiveCodeBench: 54.8%, GPQA: 53.4%. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking scores DocVQAtest: 95.0%, ScreenSpot: 94.7%, MMLU-Redux: 90.9%, MMBench-V1.1: 88.9%, MMLU: 87.6%.

Is Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is 2.0x cheaper for input tokens. Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) costs $0.10/M input and $0.10/M output via mistral. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking costs $0.20/M input and $0.99/M output via novita.

What are the context window sizes for Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) supports 131K tokens and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking supports 131K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (11.3 vs 18.3), context window (131K vs 131K), input pricing ($0.10 vs $0.20/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is developed by Mistral AI and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.