Qwen-VL OCR vs Palmyra X4 vs Aya Expanse 32B
Qwen-VL OCR comes out ahead, 36 to 33 and 25 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen-VL OCR
36/100- ECI—
- Price$0.72 / $0.72
- Context34K
Writer
Palmyra X4
25/100- ECI—
- Price$2.50 / $10.00
- Context128K
CohereAya Expanse 32B
33/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $1.50
- Context128K
Qwen-VL OCR is our pick
Qwen-VL OCR is the better all-round choice, scoring 36/100 against Aya Expanse 32B (33) and Palmyra X4 (25). Palmyra X4 wins 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 priceQwen-VL OCRQwen-VL OCR $0.72 · Aya Expanse 32B $0.75 · Palmyra X4 $4.38 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextPalmyra X4 and Aya Expanse 32BPalmyra X4 128,000 · Aya Expanse 32B 128,000 · Qwen-VL OCR 34,096 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen-VL OCRQwen-VL OCR: Text, Images · Palmyra X4: Text · Aya Expanse 32B: Text
- Self-hostingAya Expanse 32BPublishes downloadable weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0)
| Measure | Weight | Qwen-VL OCR | Palmyra X4 | Aya Expanse 32B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 57 | 19 | 56 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 | 0 |
| Context window | 20% | 1 | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 36/100 | 25/100 | 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 OCRAlibaba (Qwen) | Palmyra X4Writer | Aya Expanse 32BCohere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.72 | $2.50 | $0.50 (best) |
| Output | $0.72 (best) | $10.00 | $1.50 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.72 (best) | $4.38 | $0.75 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Median of 1 providers | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 34,096 tokens | 128,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens (best) | 4,096 tokens (best) | 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 | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | No | Yes | No |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | OpenCC-BY-NC-4.0 |
| API model ID | qwen-vl-ocr | — | c4ai-aya-expanse-32b |
| API providers | 1 | 1 | 2 (best) |
| Released | Oct 28, 2024 | Oct 9, 2024 | Oct 24, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | — | — |
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
- Palmyra X4$45.00
- Aya Expanse 32B$8.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen-VL OCR, Palmyra X4 or Aya Expanse 32B?
Qwen-VL OCR is the better all-round choice, scoring 36/100 against Aya Expanse 32B (33) and Palmyra X4 (25). Palmyra X4 wins 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, Qwen-VL OCR, Palmyra X4 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); Palmyra X4 costs $2.50 input / $10.00 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) and $4.38 for Palmyra X4 (6.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen-VL OCR has not been scored yet, Palmyra X4 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, Palmyra X4 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?
Palmyra X4 and Aya Expanse 32B have the largest context windows (128,000 and 128,000 tokens), against 34,096 for Qwen-VL OCR. Maximum output per response: Qwen-VL OCR up to 4,096, Palmyra X4 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; Palmyra X4 accepts text; 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 and Palmyra X4 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen-VL OCR is the newest, released Oct 28, 2024. Aya Expanse 32B came out Oct 24, 2024; Palmyra X4 came out Oct 9, 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.
