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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct vs Aya Expanse 32B

Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct comes out ahead, 41 to 33 on our weighted score, though Aya Expanse 32B is 17% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct

    Released Apr 2025

    41/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.45 / $2.25
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct

  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

Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct is our pick

Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 41/100 against Aya Expanse 32B (33). It leads on inputs & features and context window. 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 · Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct $0.90 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3-Coder 30B-A3B InstructQwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct 262,144 · Aya Expanse 32B 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct: Text · Aya Expanse 32B: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3-Coder 30B-A3B InstructAya Expanse 32B
Price50%5256
Inputs & features30%250
Context window20%3724
Overall100%41/10033/100

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.

Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct vs Aya Expanse 32B specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3-Coder 30B-A3B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)Aya Expanse 32BCohere
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.45 (best)$0.50
Output$2.25$1.50 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.90$0.75 (best)
Long-context rateOver 32K: $0.75 / $3.75Same rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens (best)4,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesNo
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenCC-BY-NC-4.0
API model IDqwen3-coder-30b-a3b-instructc4ai-aya-expanse-32b
API providers13 (best)2
ReleasedApr 2025Oct 24, 2024
Knowledge cutoffApr 2025—
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-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct$9.00
  • Aya Expanse 32B$8.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct or Aya Expanse 32B?

Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 41/100 against Aya Expanse 32B (33). It leads on inputs & features and context window. 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, Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct or Aya Expanse 32B?

Aya Expanse 32B is cheaper at $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct costs $0.45 input / $2.25 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 $0.90 for Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct (1.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct 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 Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B 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?

Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 128,000 for Aya Expanse 32B. Maximum output per response: Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct up to 65,536, Aya Expanse 32B up to 4,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct accepts text; Aya Expanse 32B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct is the newest, released Apr 2025. Aya Expanse 32B came out Oct 24, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B Instruct Apr 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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