Model Comparison
Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3.8 MaxWhich is better in 2026?
Qwen3.8 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Verdict: Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3.8 Max — which is better?
Qwen3 30B A3B (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) and Qwen3.8 Max (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.
Qwen3 30B A3B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8 Max is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA). Qwen3.8 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Choose Qwen3 30B A3B if…
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Choose Qwen3.8 Max if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Qwen3 30B A3B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8 Max is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).
Qwen3.8 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3.8 Max has 2369.5B more parameters than Qwen3 30B A3B, making it 7768.9% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Qwen3 30B A3B specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Qwen3 30B A3B specifies output context (128,000 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Qwen3.8 Max supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3 30B A3B does not.
Qwen3.8 Max can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Qwen3 30B A3B
Qwen3.8 Max
License
Usage and distribution terms
Qwen3 30B A3B is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Qwen3.8 Max uses a proprietary license.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Qwen3 30B A3B was released on 2025-04-29, while Qwen3.8 Max was released on 2026-08-02.
Qwen3.8 Max is 15 months newer than Qwen3 30B A3B.
Apr 29, 2025
1.3 years ago
Aug 2, 2026
1 days ago
1.3yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Qwen3 30B A3B
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.8 Max
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Qwen3 30B A3B and Qwen3.8 Max side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3.8 Max.