Qwen-VL Max vs Sonar vs Aya Expanse 32B
Qwen-VL Max comes out ahead, 41 to 33 and 30 on our weighted score, though Aya Expanse 32B is 46% cheaper per token.
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen-VL Max
41/100- ECI—
- Price$0.80 / $3.20
- Context131K
PerplexitySonar
30/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $1.00
- Context128K
CohereAya Expanse 32B
33/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $1.50
- Context128K
Qwen-VL Max is our pick
Qwen-VL Max is the better all-round choice, scoring 41/100 against Aya Expanse 32B (33) and Sonar (30). It leads on inputs & features. Aya Expanse 32B wins on price. 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 priceAya Expanse 32BAya Expanse 32B $0.75 · Sonar $1.00 · Qwen-VL Max $1.40 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen-VL MaxQwen-VL Max 131,072 · Sonar 128,000 · Aya Expanse 32B 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen-VL MaxQwen-VL Max: Text, Images · Sonar: Text · Aya Expanse 32B: Text
- Self-hostingAya Expanse 32BPublishes downloadable weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0)
| Measure | Weight | Qwen-VL Max | Sonar | Aya Expanse 32B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 43 | 50 | 56 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 41/100 | 30/100 | 33/100 |
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 | Qwen-VL MaxAlibaba (Qwen) | SonarPerplexity | Aya Expanse 32BCohere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.80 | $1.00 | $0.50 (best) |
| Output | $3.20 | $1.00 (best) | $1.50 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.40 | $1.00 | $0.75 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Perplexity API | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens (best) | 4,096 tokens | 4,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | No | No |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | OpenCC-BY-NC-4.0 |
| API model ID | qwen-vl-max | sonar | c4ai-aya-expanse-32b |
| API providers | 3 | 6 (best) | 2 |
| Released | Apr 8, 2024 | Jan 1, 2024 | Oct 24, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | Sep 1, 2025 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Qwen-VL Max$14.40
- Sonar$12.00
- Aya Expanse 32B$8.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen-VL Max, Sonar or Aya Expanse 32B?
Qwen-VL Max is the better all-round choice, scoring 41/100 against Aya Expanse 32B (33) and Sonar (30). It leads on inputs & features. Aya Expanse 32B wins on price. 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, Qwen-VL Max, Sonar or Aya Expanse 32B?
Aya Expanse 32B is cheaper at $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Sonar costs $1.00 input / $1.00 output per million tokens (official Perplexity API price); Qwen-VL Max costs $0.80 input / $3.20 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.75 per million tokens for Aya Expanse 32B versus $1.00 for Sonar (1.3× as much) and $1.40 for Qwen-VL Max (1.9× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen-VL Max has not been scored yet, Sonar has not been scored yet and Aya Expanse 32B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen-VL Max, Sonar and Aya Expanse 32B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Sonar and Aya Expanse 32B does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen-VL Max has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Sonar and 128,000 for Aya Expanse 32B. Maximum output per response: Qwen-VL Max up to 8,192, Sonar up to 4,096, Aya Expanse 32B up to 4,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen-VL Max accepts text and images; Sonar accepts text; Aya Expanse 32B accepts text. Qwen-VL Max handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Aya Expanse 32B publishes its weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0) and can be self-hosted; Qwen-VL Max and Sonar is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Aya Expanse 32B is the newest, released Oct 24, 2024. Qwen-VL Max came out Apr 8, 2024; Sonar came out Jan 1, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen-VL Max Apr 2024, Sonar Sep 1, 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 Oct 4, 2026.
