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ModelCap

Head-to-head comparison

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (Meta) and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct (Qwen) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 18 August 2026

As of 18 August 2026, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#190 vs #214); Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 6.5× cheaper per output token ($0.08/1M vs $0.52/1M); Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct offers the longer context window (262K vs 131K tokens); and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct if…

  • API cost matters — $0.08/1M output tokens against $0.52/1M, about 6.5× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.05/1M against $0.13/1M.
  • you want provider choice — 5 listed API providers against 4.

Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #190 against #214 (12.4 vs 3.9 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 262K tokens against 131K.
  • you want to self-host: Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ships open weights while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is gated access.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct was listed 6 October 2025, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct 23 July 2024.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
FieldLlama 3.1 8B InstructMetaQwen3 VL 30B A3B InstructQwen
ModelCap Index position#214#190
Index score3.912.4
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.05$0.13
Output price / 1M tokens$0.08$0.52
Context window131K tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens131K33K
API providers listed54
Weight accessGated accessOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText, Image
First listed23 July 20246 October 2025
PublisherMetaQwen

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct

Public benchmark boards where Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct has a published result
BoardLlama 3.1 8B InstructQwen3 VL 30B A3B InstructLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)12601252–1267—Only one result
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)25.8Prompt—Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—9.9intelligence-indexOnly one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct: common questions

Is Llama 3.1 8B Instruct better than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct?

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 18 August 2026: #190 against #214. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is Llama 3.1 8B Instruct cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is cheaper on output tokens: $0.08/1M against $0.52/1M. Input tokens are $0.05/1M for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and $0.13/1M for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct?

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct has the larger context window: 262K tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct open-weight models?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct: Gated access. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct?

ModelCap currently lists 5 API providers for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and 4 for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 18 August 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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