Pixtral-12B vs QvQ-72B-Preview
QvQ-72B-Preview leads the LLM Stats Score 8.0 to -1.4.
Mistral AI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
QvQ-72B-Preview leads the overall LLM Stats Score 8.0 to -1.4, ranking #271 overall.
In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, QvQ-72B-Preview wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Pixtral-12B
- you want predictable pricing at $0.15/M input and $0.15/M output
Choose QvQ-72B-Preview
- overall performance matters — it scores 8.0 and ranks #271 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 2 exact shared results
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2024
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
12 reported for Pixtral-12B · 4 for QvQ-72B-Preview
Pixtral-12B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while QvQ-72B-Preview is better at 2 benchmarks (MathVista, MMMU).
QvQ-72B-Preview significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
QvQ-72B-Preview has 61.0B more parameters than Pixtral-12B, making it 491.9% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Pixtral-12B specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Pixtral-12B specifies output context (8,192 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Pixtral-12B and QvQ-72B-Preview support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Pixtral-12B
QvQ-72B-Preview
License
Usage and distribution terms
Pixtral-12B is licensed under Apache 2.0, while QvQ-72B-Preview uses Qwen.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Qwen
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Pixtral-12B was released on 2024-09-17, while QvQ-72B-Preview was released on 2024-12-25.
QvQ-72B-Preview is 3 months newer than Pixtral-12B.
Sep 17, 2024
2.0 years ago
Dec 25, 2024
1.7 years ago
3mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Pixtral-12B and QvQ-72B-Preview side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Pixtral-12B vs QvQ-72B-Preview.