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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 vs DeepSeek-V3.1

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 comes out ahead, 59 to 56 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507

    Released Jul 28, 2025

    59/100
    • ECI137.3
    • Price$0.10 / $0.30
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507

  2. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek-V3.1

    Released Aug 21, 2025

    56/100
    • ECI139.8
    • Price$0.27 / $1.00
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek-V3.1

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 is our pick

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against DeepSeek-V3.1 (56). It leads on price and context window. DeepSeek-V3.1 wins on capability and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek-V3.1Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-V3.1 139.8 · Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 137.3
  • Lowest priceQwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 $0.15 · DeepSeek-V3.1 $0.453 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 262,144 · DeepSeek-V3.1 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507: Text · DeepSeek-V3.1: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507DeepSeek-V3.1
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6164
Price25%8563
Inputs & features15%2535
Context window10%3725
Overall100%59/10056/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 vs DeepSeek-V3.1 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507Alibaba (Qwen)DeepSeek-V3.1DeepSeek
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)137.3139.8 (best)
ECI rank#124 of 165#113 of 165 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions55.6%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics62.2%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.10 (best)$0.27
Output$0.30 (best)$1.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.15 (best)$0.453
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 12 providersMedian of 19 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output16,384 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenApache 2.0OpenMIT License
API model ID——
API providers1419 (best)
ReleasedJul 28, 2025Aug 21, 2025
Knowledge cutoff——
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.

  • Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507$1.60
  • DeepSeek-V3.1$4.70
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 or DeepSeek-V3.1?

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against DeepSeek-V3.1 (56). It leads on price and context window. DeepSeek-V3.1 wins on capability and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 or DeepSeek-V3.1?

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (median across 12 API providers). DeepSeek-V3.1 costs $0.27 input / $1.00 output per million tokens (median across 19 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 versus $0.453 for DeepSeek-V3.1 (3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek-V3.1 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-V3.1 139.8 (#113 of 165) and Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 137.3 (#124 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (135.6–143.2 vs 131.7–139.4), so treat the gap as small.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 and DeepSeek-V3.1 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek-V3.1 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for DeepSeek-V3.1. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 up to 16,384, DeepSeek-V3.1 up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 accepts text; DeepSeek-V3.1 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (Apache 2.0 and MIT License), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

DeepSeek-V3.1 is the newest, released Aug 21, 2025. Qwen3 30B-A3B Instruct 2507 came out Jul 28, 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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