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Head-to-head comparison

Llama 4 Scout vs Qwen3 30B A3B

Llama 4 Scout (Meta) and Qwen3 30B A3B (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 9 September 2026

As of 9 September 2026, Qwen3 30B A3B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#136 vs #137); Llama 4 Scout is 1.7× cheaper per output token ($0.30/1M vs $0.50/1M); Llama 4 Scout offers the longer context window (1.3M vs 131K tokens); and Qwen3 30B A3B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Llama 4 Scout if…

  • API cost matters — $0.30/1M output tokens against $0.50/1M, about 1.7× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.10/1M against $0.12/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 1.3M tokens against 131K.
  • you want provider choice — 3 listed API providers against 2.

Choose Qwen3 30B A3B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #136 against #137 (27.8 vs 26.9 points).
  • you want to self-host: Qwen3 30B A3B ships open weights while Llama 4 Scout is gated access.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1386 against 1362.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3 30B A3B was listed 28 April 2025, Llama 4 Scout 5 April 2025.

Llama 4 Scout vs Qwen3 30B A3B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Llama 4 Scout and Qwen3 30B A3B
FieldLlama 4 ScoutMetaQwen3 30B A3BQwen
ModelCap Index position#137#136
Index score26.927.8
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.10$0.12
Output price / 1M tokens$0.30$0.50
Context window1.3M tokens131K tokens
Max output tokens16K16K
API providers listed32
Weight accessGated accessOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, ImageText
First listed5 April 202528 April 2025
PublisherMetaQwen

Evidence: 4 public benchmark observations across 4 boards · 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Llama 4 Scout vs Qwen3 30B A3B

Public benchmark boards where Llama 4 Scout or Qwen3 30B A3B has a published result
BoardLlama 4 ScoutQwen3 30B A3BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13621354–137113861377–1395Qwen3 30B A3B
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation0.0%—Only one result
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)28.1Function calling—Only one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis6.5intelligence-index:v4.3:non-reasoning—Only one result
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis3.7%terminal-bench:2.1:terminus-2:e2b:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Llama 4 Scout":reasoning=false—Only one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis15.5%tau2:telecom:dual-control:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Llama 4 Scout":reasoning=false—Only one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis3.8%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Llama 4 Scout":reasoning=false—Only 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 4 Scout vs Qwen3 30B A3B: common questions

Is Llama 4 Scout better than Qwen3 30B A3B?

Qwen3 30B A3B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 9 September 2026: #136 against #137. 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. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is Llama 4 Scout cheaper than Qwen3 30B A3B?

Llama 4 Scout is cheaper on output tokens: $0.30/1M against $0.50/1M. Input tokens are $0.10/1M for Llama 4 Scout and $0.12/1M for Qwen3 30B A3B. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $0.35 for Llama 4 Scout versus $0.49 for Qwen3 30B A3B. Llama 4 Scout costs 28.6% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.

Which has the bigger context window, Llama 4 Scout or Qwen3 30B A3B?

Llama 4 Scout has the larger context window: 1.3M tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, Llama 4 Scout or Qwen3 30B A3B?

Arena coding: Llama 4 Scout 1362, Qwen3 30B A3B 1386 — Qwen3 30B A3B leads.

Are Llama 4 Scout and Qwen3 30B A3B open-weight models?

Llama 4 Scout: Gated access. Qwen3 30B A3B: 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 4 Scout and Qwen3 30B A3B?

ModelCap currently lists 3 API providers for Llama 4 Scout and 2 for Qwen3 30B A3B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Llama 4 Scout vs Qwen3 30B A3B comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 9 September 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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