ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Aya Expanse 8B vs Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct vs Qwen-VL OCR

Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct comes out ahead, 40 to 15 and 0 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Cohere

    Aya Expanse 8B

    Released Oct 24, 2024

    0/100
    • ECI—
    • Price—
    • Context8K
  2. Our pick

    Meta

    Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct

    Released Sep 25, 2024

    40/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.197 / $0.51
    • Context128K
  3. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen-VL OCR

    Released Oct 28, 2024

    15/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.72 / $0.72
    • Context34K
01 — Verdict

Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct is our pick

Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 40/100 against Qwen-VL OCR (15) and Aya Expanse 8B (0). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. 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 priceLlama-3.2-11B-Vision-InstructLlama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct $0.275 · Qwen-VL OCR $0.72 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Aya Expanse 8B unpriced
  • Longest contextLlama-3.2-11B-Vision-InstructLlama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct 128,000 · Qwen-VL OCR 34,096 · Aya Expanse 8B 8,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsLlama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct and Qwen-VL OCRAya Expanse 8B: Text · Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct: Text, Images · Qwen-VL OCR: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAya Expanse 8B and Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-InstructPublishes downloadable weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightAya Expanse 8BLlama-3.2-11B-Vision-InstructQwen-VL OCR
Inputs & features60%05025
Context window40%0241
Overall100%0/10040/10015/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. 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.

Aya Expanse 8B vs Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct vs Qwen-VL OCR specifications side by side
SpecificationAya Expanse 8BCohereLlama-3.2-11B-Vision-InstructMetaQwen-VL OCRAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)———
ECI rank———
Price per million tokens
Input—$0.197 (best)$0.72
Output—$0.51 (best)$0.72
Cached input———
Blended (3:1)—$0.275 (best)$0.72
Long-context rate—Same rateSame rate
Price source—Median of 2 providersOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window8,000 tokens128,000 tokens (best)34,096 tokens
Max output4,000 tokens4,096 tokens (best)4,096 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoYesYes
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoNoNo
Tool callingNoYesNo
Structured outputNoNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenCC-BY-NC-4.0OpenProprietary
API model ID——qwen-vl-ocr
API providers—2 (best)1
ReleasedOct 24, 2024Sep 25, 2024Oct 28, 2024
Knowledge cutoff—Dec 2023Apr 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.

  • Aya Expanse 8B—
  • Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct$2.99
  • Qwen-VL OCR$8.64
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Aya Expanse 8B, Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct or Qwen-VL OCR?

Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 40/100 against Qwen-VL OCR (15) and Aya Expanse 8B (0). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, Aya Expanse 8B, Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct or Qwen-VL OCR?

Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct is cheaper at $0.197 input / $0.51 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). Qwen-VL OCR costs $0.72 input / $0.72 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.275 per million tokens for Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct versus $0.72 for Qwen-VL OCR (2.6× as much). Aya Expanse 8B has no published per-token price.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Aya Expanse 8B has not been scored yet, Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct has not been scored yet and Qwen-VL OCR has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Aya Expanse 8B, Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct and Qwen-VL OCR yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Aya Expanse 8B and Qwen-VL OCR does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 34,096 for Qwen-VL OCR and 8,000 for Aya Expanse 8B. Maximum output per response: Aya Expanse 8B up to 4,000, Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct up to 4,096, Qwen-VL OCR up to 4,096 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Aya Expanse 8B accepts text; Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct accepts text and images; Qwen-VL OCR accepts text and images. Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Aya Expanse 8B and Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct publishes its weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0) and can be self-hosted; Qwen-VL OCR is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen-VL OCR is the newest, released Oct 28, 2024. Aya Expanse 8B came out Oct 24, 2024; Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct came out Sep 25, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct Dec 2023, Qwen-VL OCR 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 Oct 4, 2026.