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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen-VL OCR vs Aya Expanse 32B

Qwen-VL OCR comes out ahead, 36 to 33 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen-VL OCR

    Released Oct 28, 2024

    36/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.72 / $0.72
    • Context34K
    Full specs Remove Qwen-VL OCR

  2. Cohere

    Aya Expanse 32B

    Released Oct 24, 2024

    33/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.50 / $1.50
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Aya Expanse 32B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen-VL OCR is our pick

Qwen-VL OCR is the better all-round choice, scoring 36/100 against Aya Expanse 32B (33). It leads on inputs & features. Aya Expanse 32B wins on context window. 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 priceQwen-VL OCRQwen-VL OCR $0.72 · Aya Expanse 32B $0.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAya Expanse 32BAya Expanse 32B 128,000 · Qwen-VL OCR 34,096 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen-VL OCRQwen-VL OCR: Text, Images · Aya Expanse 32B: Text
  • Self-hostingAya Expanse 32BPublishes downloadable weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen-VL OCRAya Expanse 32B
Price50%5756
Inputs & features30%250
Context window20%124
Overall100%36/10033/100

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.

Qwen-VL OCR vs Aya Expanse 32B specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen-VL OCRAlibaba (Qwen)Aya Expanse 32BCohere
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.72$0.50 (best)
Output$0.72 (best)$1.50
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.72 (best)$0.75
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window34,096 tokens128,000 tokens (best)
Max output4,096 tokens (best)4,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingNoNo
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpenCC-BY-NC-4.0
API model IDqwen-vl-ocrc4ai-aya-expanse-32b
API providers12 (best)
ReleasedOct 28, 2024Oct 24, 2024
Knowledge cutoffApr 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.

  • Qwen-VL OCR$8.64
  • Aya Expanse 32B$8.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen-VL OCR or Aya Expanse 32B?

Qwen-VL OCR is the better all-round choice, scoring 36/100 against Aya Expanse 32B (33). It leads on inputs & features. Aya Expanse 32B wins on context window. 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 OCR or Aya Expanse 32B?

Qwen-VL OCR is cheaper at $0.72 input / $0.72 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Aya Expanse 32B costs $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.72 per million tokens for Qwen-VL OCR versus $0.75 for Aya Expanse 32B (1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen-VL OCR 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 OCR 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 Qwen-VL OCR and Aya Expanse 32B does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Aya Expanse 32B has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 34,096 for Qwen-VL OCR. Maximum output per response: Qwen-VL OCR up to 4,096, Aya Expanse 32B up to 4,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen-VL OCR accepts text and images; Aya Expanse 32B accepts text. Qwen-VL OCR 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 OCR is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen-VL OCR is the newest, released Oct 28, 2024. Aya Expanse 32B came out Oct 24, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen-VL OCR 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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