Model Comparison
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is 1.1x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Qwen2.5 72B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct — which is better?
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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.
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, IFEval, MMLU-Pro, MMLU-Redux). Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is roughly 1.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Choose Qwen2.5 72B Instruct if…
- you want predictable pricing at $0.35/M input and $0.40/M output
Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 4 of 4 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 1.1x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, IFEval, MMLU-Pro, MMLU-Redux).
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct 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 1.7x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens).
For output processing, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct ($0.40/1M tokens) is 1.7x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ($0.70/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct has 41.7B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct, making it 134.5% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 131,072 tokens. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 32,768 tokens, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is limited to 8,192 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen2.5 72B Instruct does not.
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is licensed under Qwen, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct 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 VL 30B A3B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is 12 months newer than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct.
Sep 19, 2024
1.8 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
10 months ago
1.0yr 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 VL 30B A3B Instruct is available from Novita, DeepInfra.
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Qwen2.5 72B Instruct and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Qwen2.5 72B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct.