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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct

Qwen3 30B A3B (Qwen) and Qwen3 Next 80B 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 22 September 2026

As of 22 September 2026, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#88 vs #164); Qwen3 30B A3B is 2.2× cheaper per output token ($0.50/1M vs $1.10/1M); and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct offers the longer context window (262K vs 131K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3 30B A3B if…

  • API cost matters — $0.50/1M output tokens against $1.10/1M, about 2.2× cheaper.

Choose Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #88 against #164 (55.4 vs 33.6 points).
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.09/1M against $0.12/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 262K tokens against 131K.
  • you want provider choice — 5 listed API providers against 2.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1445 against 1386.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct was listed 11 September 2025, Qwen3 30B A3B 28 April 2025.

Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3 30B A3B and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct
FieldQwen3 30B A3BQwenQwen3 Next 80B A3B InstructQwen
ModelCap Index position#164#88
Index score33.655.4
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.12$0.09
Output price / 1M tokens$0.50$1.10
Context window131K tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens16K16K
API providers listed25
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed28 April 202511 September 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: Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3 30B A3B or Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct has a published result
BoardQwen3 30B A3BQwen3 Next 80B A3B InstructLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13861377–139514451436–1453Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis—21.6%tau2:telecom:dual-control:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct":reasoning=falseOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis—7.6%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct":reasoning=falseOnly 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 Next 80B A3B Instruct: common questions

Is Qwen3 30B A3B better than Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct?

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 22 September 2026: #88 against #164. 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 Qwen3 30B A3B cheaper than Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct?

Qwen3 30B A3B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.50/1M against $1.10/1M. Input tokens are $0.12/1M for Qwen3 30B A3B and $0.09/1M for Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct. 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 $0.49 for Qwen3 30B A3B versus $0.73 for Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct. Qwen3 30B A3B costs 32.9% 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, Qwen3 30B A3B or Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct?

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct has the larger context window: 262K tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3 30B A3B or Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct?

Arena coding: Qwen3 30B A3B 1386, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct 1445 — Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct leads.

Are Qwen3 30B A3B and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct open-weight models?

Qwen3 30B A3B: Open weights. Qwen3 Next 80B 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 Qwen3 30B A3B and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct?

ModelCap currently lists 2 API providers for Qwen3 30B A3B and 5 for Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct, 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 Next 80B A3B Instruct comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 22 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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