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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Qwen3 30B A3B (Qwen) 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 30B A3B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#93 vs #101); and Qwen3 30B A3B is 4× cheaper per output token ($0.52/1M vs $2.10/1M).

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3 30B A3B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #93 against #101 (24.6 vs 23.7 points).
  • API cost matters — $0.52/1M output tokens against $2.10/1M, about 4× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.13/1M against $0.18/1M.
  • you want provider choice — 2 listed API providers against 1.

Choose Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking if…

  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking was listed 14 October 2025, Qwen3 30B A3B 28 April 2025.

Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3 30B A3B and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
FieldQwen3 30B A3BQwenQwen3 VL 8B ThinkingQwen
ModelCap Index position#93#101
Index score24.623.7
EvidenceMeasuredEstimated
Input price / 1M tokens$0.13$0.18
Output price / 1M tokens$0.52$2.10
Context window131K tokens131K tokens
Max output tokens8K33K
API providers listed21
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextImage, Text
First listed28 April 202514 October 2025
PublisherQwenQwen

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 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: Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3 30B A3B or Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking has a published result
BoardQwen3 30B A3BQwen3 VL 8B ThinkingLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13861377–1395—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.

Qwen3 30B A3B vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: common questions

Is Qwen3 30B A3B better than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Qwen3 30B A3B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #93 against #101. 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 VL 8B Thinking?

Qwen3 30B A3B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.52/1M against $2.10/1M. Input tokens are $0.13/1M for Qwen3 30B A3B 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, Qwen3 30B A3B or Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Both publish a 131K-token context window.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3 30B A3B 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 Qwen3 30B A3B and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking open-weight models?

Qwen3 30B A3B: Open weights. 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 Qwen3 30B A3B and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

ModelCap currently lists 2 API providers for Qwen3 30B A3B 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 Qwen3 30B A3B 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.

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