Qwen 3 VL 30 B A3 B Instruct vs Qwen 3 Next 80 B A3 B Thinking: cost comparison
Prices updated 2026-10-28 · computed from live provider data
Short answer: Qwen 3 VL 30 B A3 B Instruct is cheaper on a
3:1 input/output blend — $0.263 per million tokens versus
$0.412, a 36% difference.
Both offer the same 262,144-token context window, so cost is the deciding factor.
Head to head
| Qwen 3 VL 30 B A3 B Instruct | Qwen 3 Next 80 B A3 B Thinking | |
|---|---|---|
| Input, per 1M tokens | $0.150 | $0.150 |
| Output, per 1M tokens | $0.600 | $1.20 |
| Blended 3:1, per 1M | $0.263 | $0.412 |
| Context window | 262,144 | 262,144 |
| Vendor | qwen | qwen |
Monthly cost at real volumes
| Workload (input / output) | Qwen 3 VL 30 B A3 B Instruct | Qwen 3 Next 80 B A3 B Thinking |
|---|---|---|
| 1M in / 250K out | $0.300 | $0.450 |
| 10M in / 2.5M out | $3.00 | $4.50 |
| 100M in / 25M out | $30.00 | $45.00 |
Which should you pick?
Because the context windows are identical, the cheaper option is the better default. Choose Qwen 3 VL 30 B A3 B Instruct unless you are already standardised on qwen tooling and want to avoid a second integration.