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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct vs Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B

Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct (Qwen) and Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (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 6 November 2026

As of 6 November 2026, Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#131 vs #278); and Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B offers the longer context window (262K vs 33K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct if…

  • ModelCap publishes no field on which Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct leads Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B for this pair.

Choose Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #131 against #278 (49.8 vs 22.4 points).
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.30/1M against $0.66/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 262K tokens against 33K.
  • you want provider choice — 2 listed API providers against 1.
  • Arena text is your yardstick — 1388 against 1271.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1457 against 1342.
  • SWE-bench is your yardstick — 55.4% against 9.0%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B was listed 23 July 2025, Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct 11 November 2024.

Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct vs Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct and Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B
FieldQwen2.5 Coder 32B InstructQwenQwen3 Coder 480B A35BQwen
ModelCap Index position#278#131
Index score22.449.8
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.66$0.30
Output price / 1M tokens$1.00$1.00
Context window33K tokens262K tokens
Declared route output cap29K66K
API providers listed12
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed11 November 202423 July 2025
PublisherQwenQwen

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 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: Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct vs Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B

Public benchmark boards where Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct or Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B has a published result
BoardQwen2.5 Coder 32B InstructQwen3 Coder 480B A35BLeads
Arena textArena (LMArena)12711262–1279Not reported13881383–1393Not reportedQwen3 Coder 480B A35B
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13421323–136014571448–1466Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B
SWE-benchSWE-bench (Princeton / SWE-agent team)9.0%55.4%Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B

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.

Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct vs Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B: common questions

Is Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct better than Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B?

Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 6 November 2026: #131 against #278. 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 do not overlap, but the aggregate Index does not predict performance on every task; compare the relevant benchmark configurations before choosing.

Is Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct cheaper than Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B?

Both list the same output price, $1.00/1M tokens, with input at $0.66/1M and $0.30/1M respectively. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $1.82 for Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct versus $1.10 for Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B. Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B costs 39.6% 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, Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct or Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B?

Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B has the larger context window: 262K tokens against 33K. OpenRouter catalogue or provider-endpoint declaration. Limits can vary by provider and prompt length; a model-wide maximum has not been independently verified.

Which is better for coding, Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct or Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B?

Arena coding: Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct 1342, Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B 1457 — Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B leads. SWE-bench: Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct 9.0%, Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B 55.4% — Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B leads.

Are Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct and Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B open-weight models?

Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct: Open weights. Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence. A missing weight link does not identify every API or chat product that offers a model.

Where can I run Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct and Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct and 2 for Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct vs Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B comparison?

Every figure and ModelCap Index position comes from the same published snapshot dated 6 November 2026. Publication and page updates happen separately; use the snapshot date shown on the page.

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