Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct vs Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct vs Aya Expanse 32B
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct comes out ahead, 56 to 45 and 33 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct
45/100- ECI—
- Price$0.43 / $0.60
- Context131K
- Our pick
MetaLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct
56/100- ECI116.6
- Price$0.152 / $0.167
- Context128K
CohereAya Expanse 32B
33/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $1.50
- Context128K
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is our pick
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 56/100 against Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct (45) and Aya Expanse 32B (33). It leads 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 priceLlama-3.1-8B-InstructLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct $0.156 · Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct $0.473 · Aya Expanse 32B $0.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen2.5-Coder-32B-InstructQwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct 131,072 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 128,000 · Aya Expanse 32B 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsQwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct: Text · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct: Text · Aya Expanse 32B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct | Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct | Aya Expanse 32B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 65 | 88 | 56 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 25 | 0 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 45/100 | 56/100 | 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 | Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-InstructAlibaba (Qwen) | Llama-3.1-8B-InstructMeta | Aya Expanse 32BCohere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | 116.6 | — |
| ECI rank | — | #145 of 148 | — |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 27.0% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 1.7% | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.43 | $0.152 (best) | $0.50 |
| Output | $0.60 | $0.167 (best) | $1.50 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.473 | $0.156 (best) | $0.75 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 4 providers | Median of 9 providers | 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 | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | No |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Open | OpenCC-BY-NC-4.0 |
| API model ID | — | — | c4ai-aya-expanse-32b |
| API providers | 4 | 9 (best) | 2 |
| Released | Nov 12, 2024 | Jul 23, 2024 | Oct 24, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Dec 2023 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct$5.50
- Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct$1.85
- Aya Expanse 32B$8.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct or Aya Expanse 32B?
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 56/100 against Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct (45) and Aya Expanse 32B (33). It leads 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, Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct or Aya Expanse 32B?
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is cheaper at $0.152 input / $0.167 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers). Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct costs $0.43 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers); 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 $0.156 per million tokens for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct versus $0.473 for Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct (3× as much) and $0.75 for Aya Expanse 32B (4.8× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct has not been scored yet, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct has an ECI of 116.6 and Aya Expanse 32B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 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 Aya Expanse 32B does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct and 128,000 for Aya Expanse 32B. Maximum output per response: Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct up to 8,192, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct up to 4,096, Aya Expanse 32B up to 4,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct accepts text; Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct accepts text; Aya Expanse 32B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct is the newest, released Nov 12, 2024. Aya Expanse 32B came out Oct 24, 2024; Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct came out Jul 23, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct Dec 2023.
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.
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