Model Comparison

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B ThinkingWhich is better in 2026?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is 1.2x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking — which is better?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking (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-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking outperforms in 15 benchmarks (AIME 2025, Arena-Hard v2, BFCL-v3, GPQA, HMMT25, IFEval, Include, LiveBench 20241125, LiveCodeBench v6, MMLU-Pro, MMLU-ProX, MMLU-Redux, Multi-IF, PolyMATH, SuperGPQA), while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is better at 1 benchmark (WritingBench). Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is roughly 1.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking also accepts a larger context window (131,072 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 15 of 16 shared benchmarks

Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking if…

  • cost matters — it's about 1.2x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 131,072 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

16 benchmarks

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking outperforms in 15 benchmarks (AIME 2025, Arena-Hard v2, BFCL-v3, GPQA, HMMT25, IFEval, Include, LiveBench 20241125, LiveCodeBench v6, MMLU-Pro, MMLU-ProX, MMLU-Redux, Multi-IF, PolyMATH, SuperGPQA), while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is better at 1 benchmark (WritingBench).

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking costs less

For input processing, Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking ($0.15/1M tokens) is 1.3x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking ($0.20/1M tokens).

For output processing, Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking ($1.50/1M tokens) is 1.5x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking ($0.99/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
Input tokens$0.15
Output tokens$1.50
Best providerNovita
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Input tokens$0.20
Output tokens$0.99
Best providerNovita
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

49.0B diff

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking has 49.0B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking, making it 158.1% larger.

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
80.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
31.0Bparameters
80.0B
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
31.0B
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking accepts 131,072 input tokens compared to Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking's 65,536 tokens. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking can generate longer responses up to 65,536 tokens, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is limited to 32,768 tokens.

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
Input65,536 tokens
Output65,536 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Input131,072 tokens
Output32,768 tokens
Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking does not.

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.

Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking was released on 2025-09-10, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is 0 month newer than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking.

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

Sep 10, 2025

10 months ago

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

Sep 22, 2025

9 months ago

1w newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is available from Novita. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is available from Novita, DeepInfra.

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.00/1M
deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.29/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.99/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Less expensive input tokens
Higher AIME 2025 score (87.8% vs 83.1%)
Higher Arena-Hard v2 score (62.3% vs 56.7%)
Higher BFCL-v3 score (72.0% vs 68.6%)
Higher GPQA score (77.2% vs 74.4%)
Higher HMMT25 score (73.9% vs 67.6%)
Higher IFEval score (88.9% vs 81.7%)
Higher Include score (78.9% vs 74.5%)
Higher LiveBench 20241125 score (76.6% vs 72.1%)
Higher LiveCodeBench v6 score (68.7% vs 64.2%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (82.7% vs 80.5%)
Higher MMLU-ProX score (78.7% vs 76.1%)
Higher MMLU-Redux score (92.5% vs 90.9%)
Higher Multi-IF score (77.8% vs 73.0%)
Higher PolyMATH score (56.3% vs 51.7%)
Higher SuperGPQA score (60.8% vs 56.4%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Larger context window (131,072 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Less expensive output tokens
Higher WritingBench score (85.2% vs 84.6%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
✓ Preferred
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking

FAQ

Common questions about Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking.

Which is better, Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking or Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking compare to Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking in benchmarks?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking scores MMLU-Redux: 92.5%, IFEval: 88.9%, AIME 2025: 87.8%, WritingBench: 84.6%, MMLU-Pro: 82.7%. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking scores DocVQAtest: 95.0%, ScreenSpot: 94.7%, MMLU-Redux: 90.9%, MMBench-V1.1: 88.9%, MMLU: 87.6%.

Is Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is 1.3x cheaper for input tokens. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking costs $0.15/M input and $1.50/M output via novita. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking costs $0.20/M input and $0.99/M output via novita.

What are the context window sizes for Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking supports 66K tokens and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking supports 131K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking?

Key differences include context window (66K vs 131K), input pricing ($0.15 vs $0.20/M), multimodal support (no vs yes). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

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