Skip to content
ModelCap

Head-to-head comparison

Llama 4 Scout vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Llama 4 Scout (Meta) and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking (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 17 August 2026

As of 17 August 2026, Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#101 vs #104); Llama 4 Scout is 7× cheaper per output token ($0.30/1M vs $2.10/1M); Llama 4 Scout offers the longer context window (1.3M vs 131K tokens); and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Llama 4 Scout if…

  • API cost matters — $0.30/1M output tokens against $2.10/1M, about 7× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.10/1M against $0.18/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 1.3M tokens against 131K.
  • you want provider choice — 4 listed API providers against 1.

Choose Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #101 against #104 (23.7 vs 22.5 points).
  • you want to self-host: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ships open weights while Llama 4 Scout is gated access.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking was listed 14 October 2025, Llama 4 Scout 5 April 2025.

Llama 4 Scout vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Llama 4 Scout and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
FieldLlama 4 ScoutMetaQwen3 VL 8B ThinkingQwen
ModelCap Index position#104#101
Index score22.523.7
EvidenceMeasuredEstimated
Input price / 1M tokens$0.10$0.18
Output price / 1M tokens$0.30$2.10
Context window1.3M tokens131K tokens
Max output tokens16K33K
API providers listed41
Weight accessGated accessOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, ImageImage, Text
First listed5 April 202514 October 2025
PublisherMetaQwen

Evidence: 4 public benchmark observations across 4 boards · publisher corpus prior · leave-one-anchor-out calibrated. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Llama 4 Scout vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Public benchmark boards where Llama 4 Scout or Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking has a published result
BoardLlama 4 ScoutQwen3 VL 8B ThinkingLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13621353–1370—Only one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation0.0%—Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis10.3intelligence-index—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 VL 8B Thinking: common questions

Is Llama 4 Scout better than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #101 against #104. 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 4 Scout cheaper than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Llama 4 Scout is cheaper on output tokens: $0.30/1M against $2.10/1M. Input tokens are $0.10/1M for Llama 4 Scout and $0.18/1M for Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Llama 4 Scout or Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

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

Which is better for coding, Llama 4 Scout or Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

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 4 Scout and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking open-weight models?

Llama 4 Scout: Gated access. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: 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 VL 8B Thinking?

ModelCap currently lists 4 API providers for Llama 4 Scout and 1 for Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking, 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 VL 8B Thinking comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 17 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.

Explore further