Hermes 4 405B vs Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) vs Relace Search
Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) 35, Hermes 4 405B 35, Relace Search 35). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Nous ResearchHermes 4 405B
35/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $3.00
- Context131K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking)
35/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $6.00
- Context262K
Relace
Relace Search
35/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $3.00
- Context256K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) 35/100, Hermes 4 405B 35/100, Relace Search 35/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Hermes 4 405B on price and Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) for long inputs. 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 priceHermes 4 405B and Relace SearchHermes 4 405B $1.50 · Relace Search $1.50 · Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) $1.88 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking)Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) 262,144 · Relace Search 256,000 · Hermes 4 405B 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsHermes 4 405B: Text · Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking): Text · Relace Search: Text
- Self-hostingHermes 4 405B and Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking)Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Hermes 4 405B | Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) | Relace Search |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 40 | 35 | 40 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 35 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 37 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 35/100 | 35/100 | 35/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Hermes 4 405BNous Research | Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking)Alibaba (Qwen) | Relace SearchRelace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.00 | $0.50 (best) | $1.00 |
| Output | $3.00 (best) | $6.00 | $3.00 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.50 (best) | $1.88 | $1.50 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 5 providers | Official Alibaba API | Median of 3 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | 117,964 tokens | 32,768 tokens | 128,000 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | qwen3-next-80b-a3b-thinking | — |
| API providers | 5 | 7 (best) | 3 |
| Released | Aug 26, 2025 | Sep 2025 | Dec 8, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Aug 31, 2024 | Apr 2025 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Hermes 4 405B$16.00
- Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking)$17.00
- Relace Search$16.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Hermes 4 405B, Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) or Relace Search?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) 35/100, Hermes 4 405B 35/100, Relace Search 35/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Hermes 4 405B on price and Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) for long inputs. 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 4 405B, Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) or Relace Search?
Hermes 4 405B is cheaper at $1.00 input / $3.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). Relace Search costs $1.00 input / $3.00 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers); Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) costs $0.50 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.50 per million tokens for Hermes 4 405B versus $1.50 for Relace Search (1× as much) and $1.88 for Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) (1.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Hermes 4 405B has not been scored yet, Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) has not been scored yet and Relace Search has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Hermes 4 405B, Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) and Relace Search yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 256,000 for Relace Search and 131,072 for Hermes 4 405B. Maximum output per response: Hermes 4 405B up to 117,964, Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) up to 32,768, Relace Search up to 128,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Hermes 4 405B accepts text; Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) accepts text; Relace Search accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Hermes 4 405B and Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Relace Search is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Relace Search is the newest, released Dec 8, 2025. Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) came out Sep 2025; Hermes 4 405B came out Aug 26, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Hermes 4 405B Aug 31, 2024, Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) Apr 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.
