Model Comparison
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct vs Qwen3 30B A3B
Qwen3 30B A3B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3 30B A3B is 2.4x cheaper per token.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 30B A3B is better at 4 benchmarks (Arena Hard, GPQA, LiveBench, LiveCodeBench).
Qwen3 30B A3B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct ($0.35/1M tokens) is 3.5x more expensive than Qwen3 30B A3B ($0.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct ($0.40/1M tokens) is 1.3x more expensive than Qwen3 30B A3B ($0.30/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is more expensive than Qwen3 30B A3B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct has 42.2B more parameters than Qwen3 30B A3B, making it 138.4% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct accepts 131,072 input tokens compared to Qwen3 30B A3B's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3 30B A3B can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is limited to 8,192 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is licensed under Qwen, while Qwen3 30B A3B uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Qwen
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct was released on 2024-09-19, while Qwen3 30B A3B was released on 2025-04-29.
Qwen3 30B A3B is 7 months newer than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct.
Sep 19, 2024
1.6 years ago
Apr 29, 2025
1.0 years ago
7mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Hyperbolic, Fireworks, Together. Qwen3 30B A3B is available from DeepInfra, Novita, Fireworks.
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
Qwen3 30B A3B
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 30B A3B
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about Qwen2.5 72B Instruct vs Qwen3 30B A3B