DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Qwen3 30B A3B
Qwen3 30B A3B comes out ahead, 57 to 53 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
DeepSeekDeepSeek R1 0528
53/100- ECI141.2
- Price$0.512 / $2.19
- Context164K
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 30B A3B
57/100- ECI136.2
- Price$0.108 / $0.475
- Context131K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Qwen3 30B A3B is our pick
Qwen3 30B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against DeepSeek R1 0528 (53). It leads on price. DeepSeek R1 0528 wins on capability and context window. 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 136.2
- Lowest priceQwen3 30B A3BQwen3 30B A3B $0.20 · DeepSeek R1 0528 $0.932 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextDeepSeek R1 0528DeepSeek R1 0528 163,840 · Qwen3 30B A3B 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsDeepSeek R1 0528: Text · Qwen3 30B A3B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | DeepSeek R1 0528 | Qwen3 30B A3B |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 66 | 59 |
| Price | 25% | 49 | 80 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 35 | 35 |
| Context window | 10% | 28 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 53/100 | 57/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | DeepSeek R1 0528DeepSeek | Qwen3 30B A3BAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 141.2 (best) | 136.2 |
| ECI rank | #108 of 165 (best) | #126 of 165 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 76.3% (best) | 61.7% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 66.4% (best) | 62.8% |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.512 | $0.108 (best) |
| Output | $2.19 | $0.475 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.932 | $0.20 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 16 providers | Median of 14 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 163,840 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens (best) | 16,384 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | OpenMIT | Open |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | 16 (best) | 14 |
| Released | May 28, 2025 | Apr 28, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — |
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$2.03
Which should you choose?
Which is better: DeepSeek R1 0528 or Qwen3 30B A3B?
Qwen3 30B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against DeepSeek R1 0528 (53). It leads on price. DeepSeek R1 0528 wins on capability and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek R1 0528 or Qwen3 30B A3B?
Qwen3 30B A3B is cheaper at $0.108 input / $0.475 output per million tokens (median across 14 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 $0.20 per million tokens for Qwen3 30B A3B versus $0.932 for DeepSeek R1 0528 (4.7× 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 136.2 (#126 of 165). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (139.0–142.9 vs 130.8–138.5), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek R1 0528 76.3%, Qwen3 30B A3B 61.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — DeepSeek R1 0528 66.4%, Qwen3 30B A3B 62.8%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek R1 0528 and Qwen3 30B A3B 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?
DeepSeek R1 0528 has the largest context window at 163,840 tokens, against 131,072 for Qwen3 30B A3B. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek R1 0528 up to 32,768, Qwen3 30B A3B up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
DeepSeek R1 0528 accepts text; Qwen3 30B A3B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (MIT), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
DeepSeek R1 0528 is the newest, released May 28, 2025. Qwen3 30B A3B came out Apr 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.
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