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ModelCap

Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking

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

As of 22 September 2026, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#88 vs #116); and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct is cheaper per output token ($1.10/1M vs $1.20/1M).

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #88 against #116 (55.4 vs 46.7 points).
  • API cost matters — $1.10/1M output tokens against $1.20/1M.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.09/1M against $0.15/1M.
  • you want provider choice — 5 listed API providers against 2.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1445 against 1422.

Choose Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking if…

  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking was listed 11 September 2025, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct 11 September 2025.

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

Specification comparison of Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking
FieldQwen3 Next 80B A3B InstructQwenQwen3 Next 80B A3B ThinkingQwen
ModelCap Index position#88#116
Index score55.446.7
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.09$0.15
Output price / 1M tokens$1.10$1.20
Context window262K tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens16K236K
API providers listed52
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed11 September 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 Next 80B A3B Instruct vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct or Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking has a published result
BoardQwen3 Next 80B A3B InstructQwen3 Next 80B A3B ThinkingLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14451436–145314221410–1433Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis21.6%tau2:telecom:dual-control:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct":reasoning=false—Only one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis7.6%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct":reasoning=false—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 Next 80B A3B Instruct vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking: common questions

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

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 22 September 2026: #88 against #116. 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 overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct cheaper than Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking?

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct is cheaper on output tokens: $1.10/1M against $1.20/1M. Input tokens are $0.09/1M for Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct and $0.15/1M for Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking. 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 $0.73 for Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct versus $0.90 for Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking. Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct costs 18.9% 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 Next 80B A3B Instruct or Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking?

Both publish a 262K-token context window.

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

Arena coding: Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct 1445, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking 1422 — Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct leads.

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

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

ModelCap currently lists 5 API providers for Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct and 2 for Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking 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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