The AI arena is free today

Open Superagent

Particle-1 vs Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct

Particle-1 leads the LLM Stats Score 31.9 to 13.3. Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct is 2.4x cheaper per token.

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

Which is better?

Particle-1 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 31.9 to 13.3, ranking #133 overall.

In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Particle-1 wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct is roughly 2.4x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Particle-1 also accepts a larger context window (1,048,576 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 Particle-1

  • overall performance matters — it scores 31.9 and ranks #133 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Oct 2026

Choose Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct

  • cost matters — it's about 2.4x cheaper per token
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Core performance indexes
31.9
#133
13.3
#276
31.2
#135
10.7
#293
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
1 of 1
0 of 1
Input price
$0.25 / M
$0.08 / M
Output price
$1.00 / M
$0.50 / M
Context window
1,048,576
131,072

Individual benchmarks

3 reported for Particle-1 · 46 for Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct

1 shared

Particle-1 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MMLU), while Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.

Particle-1 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Oct 30 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct costs less

For input processing, Particle-1 ($0.25/1M tokens) is 3.1x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct ($0.08/1M tokens).

For output processing, Particle-1 ($1.00/1M tokens) is 2.0x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct ($0.50/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Particle-1 is more expensive than Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Fri Oct 30 2026 • llm-stats.com
Particle AI
Particle-1
Input tokens$0.25
Output tokens$1.00
Best providerUnknown Organization
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct
Input tokens$0.08
Output tokens$0.50
Best providerNovita
Notice missing or incorrect data?

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Particle-1 accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct's 131,072 tokens. Particle-1 can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct is limited to 32,768 tokens.

Particle AI
Particle-1
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct
Input131,072 tokens
Output32,768 tokens
Fri Oct 30 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both Particle-1 and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct support multimodal inputs.

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

Particle-1

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Particle-1 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct uses Apache 2.0.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Particle-1

Proprietary

Closed source

Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Particle-1 was released on 2026-10-28, while Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.

Particle-1 is 13 months newer than Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct.

Particle-1

Oct 28, 2026

-1 days ago

1.1yr newer
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct

Sep 22, 2025

1.1 years 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

Particle-1 is available from Particle AI. Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct is available from Novita, DeepInfra.

Particle-1

particle-ai logo
Unknown Organization
Input Price:Input: $0.25/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.00/1M

Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct

novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.08/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.50/1M
deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.18/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.69/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Particle-1 and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Particle-1
✓ Preferred
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Particle-1 vs Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct.

Which is better, Particle-1 or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?

Particle-1 leads the LLM Stats Score 31.9 to 13.3. Particle-1 is made by Particle AI and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct 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 Particle-1 compare to Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct in benchmarks?

Particle-1 scores GPQA: 90.4%, BabyVision: 89.2%, MMLU: 86.1%. Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct scores DocVQAtest: 96.1%, ScreenSpot: 94.4%, OCRBench: 89.6%, AI2D: 85.7%, MMBench-V1.1: 85.0%.

Is Particle-1 cheaper than Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?

Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct is 3.1x cheaper for input tokens. Particle-1 costs $0.25/M input and $1.00/M output via particle-ai. Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct costs $0.08/M input and $0.50/M output via novita.

What are the context window sizes for Particle-1 and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?

Particle-1 supports 1.0M tokens and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct 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 Particle-1 and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (31.9 vs 13.3), context window (1.0M vs 131K), input pricing ($0.25 vs $0.08/M), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Particle-1 and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?

Particle-1 is developed by Particle AI and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.