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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Hermes 3 405B Instruct vs Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct

Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct comes out ahead, 44 to 29 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Nous Research

    Hermes 3 405B Instruct

    Released Aug 16, 2024

    29/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.00 / $1.00
    • Context131K
  2. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct

    Released Jan 26, 2025

    44/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.905 / $1.00
    • Context131K
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

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 Hermes 3 405B Instruct (29). It leads on inputs & features. 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 · Hermes 3 405B Instruct $1.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameHermes 3 405B Instruct 131,072 · Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen2.5-VL 72B InstructHermes 3 405B Instruct: Text · Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightHermes 3 405B InstructQwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct
Price50%4849
Inputs & features30%050
Context window20%2525
Overall100%29/10044/100

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.

Hermes 3 405B Instruct vs Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct specifications side by side
SpecificationHermes 3 405B InstructNous ResearchQwen2.5-VL 72B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$1.00$0.905 (best)
Output$1.00 (best)$1.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$1.00$0.93 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 5 providersMedian of 6 providers
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens131,072 tokens
Max output16,384 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingNoYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID——
API providers56 (best)
ReleasedAug 16, 2024Jan 26, 2025
Knowledge cutoffDec 31, 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.

  • Hermes 3 405B Instruct$12.00
  • Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct$11.06
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Hermes 3 405B Instruct or Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct?

Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 44/100 against Hermes 3 405B Instruct (29). It leads on inputs & features. 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, Hermes 3 405B Instruct 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). Hermes 3 405B Instruct costs $1.00 input / $1.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). 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 Hermes 3 405B Instruct (1.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Hermes 3 405B Instruct 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 Hermes 3 405B Instruct 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 Hermes 3 405B Instruct does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Hermes 3 405B Instruct and Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct share the same 131,072-token context window. Maximum output per response: Hermes 3 405B Instruct up to 16,384, Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Hermes 3 405B Instruct 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?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Qwen2.5-VL 72B Instruct is the newest, released Jan 26, 2025. Hermes 3 405B Instruct came out Aug 16, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Hermes 3 405B Instruct Dec 31, 2023, 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.