Qwen3 30B A3B vs QwQ-32B-Preview
Qwen3 30B A3B and QwQ-32B-Preview are closely matched at 16.8 and 8.5 on the LLM Stats Score. Qwen3 30B A3B is 1.1x cheaper per token.
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Qwen3 30B A3B and QwQ-32B-Preview are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 16.8 and 8.5.
In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3 30B A3B wins 3; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3 30B A3B is roughly 1.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3 30B A3B also accepts a larger context window (128,000 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 Qwen3 30B A3B
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 3 of 3 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 1.1x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 128,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
Choose QwQ-32B-Preview
- you want predictable pricing at $0.15/M input and $0.20/M output
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
8 reported for Qwen3 30B A3B · 4 for QwQ-32B-Preview
Qwen3 30B A3B outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, GPQA, LiveCodeBench), while QwQ-32B-Preview is better at 0 benchmarks.
Qwen3 30B A3B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Qwen3 30B A3B ($0.10/1M tokens) is 1.5x cheaper than QwQ-32B-Preview ($0.15/1M tokens).
For output processing, Qwen3 30B A3B ($0.30/1M tokens) is 1.5x more expensive than QwQ-32B-Preview ($0.20/1M tokens).
In conclusion, QwQ-32B-Preview is more expensive than Qwen3 30B A3B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
QwQ-32B-Preview has 2.0B more parameters than Qwen3 30B A3B, making it 6.6% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3 30B A3B accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to QwQ-32B-Preview's 32,768 tokens. Qwen3 30B A3B can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while QwQ-32B-Preview is limited to 32,768 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.
Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Qwen3 30B A3B was released on 2025-04-29, while QwQ-32B-Preview was released on 2024-11-28.
Qwen3 30B A3B is 5 months newer than QwQ-32B-Preview.
Apr 29, 2025
1.5 years ago
5mo newerNov 28, 2024
1.9 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
QwQ-32B-Preview has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-28, while Qwen3 30B A3B's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm QwQ-32B-Preview's training data extends to 2024-11-28, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3 30B A3B's cutoff date.
—
Nov 2024
Provider Availability
Qwen3 30B A3B is available from DeepInfra, Novita, Fireworks. QwQ-32B-Preview is available from DeepInfra, Hyperbolic, Fireworks, Together.
Qwen3 30B A3B
QwQ-32B-Preview
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Qwen3 30B A3B and QwQ-32B-Preview side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Qwen3 30B A3B vs QwQ-32B-Preview.