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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3.8 Flash

Qwen3 30B A3B (Qwen) and Qwen3.8 Flash (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 3 September 2026

As of 3 September 2026, Qwen3.8 Flash holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#17 vs #111); Qwen3.8 Flash is cheaper per output token ($0.47/1M vs $0.50/1M); Qwen3.8 Flash offers the longer context window (1M vs 131K tokens); and Qwen3 30B A3B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3 30B A3B if…

  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.12/1M against $0.15/1M.
  • you want to self-host: Qwen3 30B A3B ships open weights while Qwen3.8 Flash is restricted license.
  • you want provider choice — 2 listed API providers against 1.

Choose Qwen3.8 Flash if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #17 against #111 (72.1 vs 24.0 points).
  • API cost matters — $0.47/1M output tokens against $0.50/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 131K.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3.8 Flash was listed 26 August 2026, Qwen3 30B A3B 28 April 2025.

Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3.8 Flash: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3 30B A3B and Qwen3.8 Flash
FieldQwen3 30B A3BQwenQwen3.8 FlashQwen
ModelCap Index position#111#17
Index score24.072.1
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.12$0.15
Output price / 1M tokens$0.50$0.47
Context window131K tokens1M tokens
Max output tokens16K131K
API providers listed21
Weight accessOpen weightsRestricted license
Input modalitiesTextText, Image, Video
First listed28 April 202526 August 2026
PublisherQwenQwen

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: Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3.8 Flash

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3 30B A3B or Qwen3.8 Flash has a published result
BoardQwen3 30B A3BQwen3.8 FlashLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13861377–1395—Only one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—55.8intelligence-indexOnly one result
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis—86.1%terminal-bench-2.1Only one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis—38.0%humanitys-last-examOnly 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.

Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3.8 Flash: common questions

Is Qwen3 30B A3B better than Qwen3.8 Flash?

Qwen3.8 Flash ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 3 September 2026: #17 against #111. 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 Qwen3 30B A3B cheaper than Qwen3.8 Flash?

Qwen3.8 Flash is cheaper on output tokens: $0.47/1M against $0.50/1M. Input tokens are $0.12/1M for Qwen3 30B A3B and $0.15/1M for Qwen3.8 Flash. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3 30B A3B or Qwen3.8 Flash?

Qwen3.8 Flash has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3 30B A3B or Qwen3.8 Flash?

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 Qwen3 30B A3B and Qwen3.8 Flash open-weight models?

Qwen3 30B A3B: Open weights. Qwen3.8 Flash: Restricted license. 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 Qwen3 30B A3B and Qwen3.8 Flash?

ModelCap currently lists 2 API providers for Qwen3 30B A3B and 1 for Qwen3.8 Flash, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3.8 Flash comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 3 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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