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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) vs Qwen Max vs Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct

Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct comes out ahead, 44 to 24 and 24 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Aion Labs

    Aion-RP 1.0 (8B)

    Released Feb 4, 2025

    24/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.80 / $1.60
    • Context33K
  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen Max

    Released Apr 3, 2024

    24/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.60 / $6.40
    • Context33K
  3. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct

    Released Jan 26, 2025

    44/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.905 / $1.00
    • Context131K
01 — Verdict

Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct is our pick

Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 44/100 against Qwen Max (24) and Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) (24). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

  • CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
  • Lowest priceQwen2.5-VL 72B InstructQwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct $0.93 · Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) $1.00 · Qwen Max $2.80 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen2.5-VL 72B InstructQwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct 131,072 · Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) 32,768 · Qwen Max 32,768 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen2.5-VL 72B InstructAion-RP 1.0 (8B): Text · Qwen Max: Text · Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAion-RP 1.0 (8B) and Qwen2.5-VL 72B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightAion-RP 1.0 (8B)Qwen MaxQwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct
Price50%482749
Inputs & features30%03550
Context window20%0025
Overall100%24/10024/10044/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) vs Qwen Max vs Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct specifications side by side
SpecificationAion-RP 1.0 (8B)Aion LabsQwen MaxAlibaba (Qwen)Qwen2.5-VL 72B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)———
ECI rank———
Price per million tokens
Input$0.80 (best)$1.60$0.905
Output$1.60$6.40$1.00 (best)
Cached input———
Blended (3:1)$1.00$2.80$0.93 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 4 providersOfficial Alibaba APIMedian of 6 providers
Limits
Context window32,768 tokens32,768 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Max output29,491 tokens (best)8,192 tokens8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoNoYes
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoNoNo
Tool callingNoYesYes
Structured outputNoYesNo
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietaryOpen
API model ID—qwen-max—
API providers48 (best)6
ReleasedFeb 4, 2025Apr 3, 2024Jan 26, 2025
Knowledge cutoffDec 31, 2023Apr 2024Apr 2024
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Aion-RP 1.0 (8B)$11.20
  • Qwen Max$28.80
  • Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct$11.06
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Aion-RP 1.0 (8B), Qwen Max or Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct?

Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 44/100 against Qwen Max (24) and Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) (24). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, Aion-RP 1.0 (8B), Qwen Max or Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct?

Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct is cheaper at $0.905 input / $1.00 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers). Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) costs $0.80 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers); Qwen Max costs $1.60 input / $6.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.93 per million tokens for Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct versus $1.00 for Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) (1.1× as much) and $2.80 for Qwen Max (3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) has not been scored yet, Qwen Max has not been scored yet and Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Aion-RP 1.0 (8B), Qwen Max and Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 32,768 for Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) and 32,768 for Qwen Max. Maximum output per response: Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) up to 29,491, Qwen Max up to 8,192, Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) accepts text; Qwen Max accepts text; Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct accepts text and images. Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) and Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen Max is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) is the newest, released Feb 4, 2025. Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct came out Jan 26, 2025; Qwen Max came out Apr 3, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) Dec 31, 2023, Qwen Max Apr 2024, Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct Apr 2024.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.