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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 comes out ahead, 59 to 53 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek R1 0528

    Released May 28, 2025

    53/100
    • ECI141.2
    • Price$0.512 / $2.19
    • Context164K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek R1 0528
  2. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507

    Released Jul 28, 2025

    59/100
    • ECI137.3
    • Price$0.10 / $0.30
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 is our pick

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against DeepSeek R1 0528 (53). It leads on price and context window. DeepSeek R1 0528 wins on capability and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek R1 0528Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek R1 0528 141.2 · Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 137.3
  • Lowest priceQwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 $0.15 · DeepSeek R1 0528 $0.932 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 262,144 · DeepSeek R1 0528 163,840 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsDeepSeek R1 0528: Text · Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek R1 0528Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6661
Price25%4985
Inputs & features15%3525
Context window10%2837
Overall100%53/10059/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek R1 0528DeepSeekQwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507Alibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)141.2 (best)137.3
ECI rank#108 of 165 (best)#124 of 165
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions76.3% (best)55.6%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics66.4% (best)62.2%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.512$0.10 (best)
Output$2.19$0.30 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.932$0.15 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 16 providersMedian of 12 providers
Limits
Context window163,840 tokens262,144 tokens (best)
Max output32,768 tokens (best)16,384 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenMITOpenApache 2.0
API model ID——
API providers16 (best)14
ReleasedMay 28, 2025Jul 28, 2025
Knowledge cutoff——
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.

  • DeepSeek R1 0528$9.50
  • Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507$1.60
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek R1 0528 or Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507?

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against DeepSeek R1 0528 (53). It leads on price and context window. DeepSeek R1 0528 wins on capability and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek R1 0528 or Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507?

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (median across 12 API providers). DeepSeek R1 0528 costs $0.512 input / $2.19 output per million tokens (median across 16 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 versus $0.932 for DeepSeek R1 0528 (6.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek R1 0528 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek R1 0528 141.2 (#108 of 165) and Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 137.3 (#124 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (139.0–142.9 vs 131.7–139.4), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek R1 0528 76.3%, Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 55.6%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — DeepSeek R1 0528 66.4%, Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 62.2%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek R1 0528 and Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek R1 0528 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 163,840 for DeepSeek R1 0528. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek R1 0528 up to 32,768, Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek R1 0528 accepts text; Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (MIT and Apache 2.0), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 is the newest, released Jul 28, 2025. DeepSeek R1 0528 came out May 28, 2025.

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.

05 — Keep comparing

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