ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct vs Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B comes out ahead, 65 to 28 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct

    Released Apr 2025

    28/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.50 / $7.50
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct
  2. Our pick

    NVIDIA

    Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B

    Released Apr 7, 2025

    65/100
    • ECI—
    • PriceFree / Free
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is our pick

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct (28). It leads on price and inputs & features. Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct 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 priceLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B Free · Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct 262,144 · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct: Text · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B
Price50%27100
Inputs & features30%2535
Context window20%3724
Overall100%28/10065/100

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 480B-A35B Instruct vs Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BNVIDIA
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$1.50Free (best)
Output$7.50Free (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$3.00Free (best)
Long-context rateOver 32K: $2.70 / $13.50Same rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial Nvidia API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDqwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instructnvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1
API providers7 (best)1
ReleasedApr 2025Apr 7, 2025
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 480B-A35B Instruct$30.00
  • Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BFree
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B?

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct (28). It leads on price and inputs & features. Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct 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, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B?

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Nvidia API price). Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct costs $1.50 input / $7.50 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is listed as free.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct has not been scored yet and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 128,000 for Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B. Maximum output per response: Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct up to 65,536, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct accepts text; Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the newest, released Apr 7, 2025. Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct came out Apr 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B 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

Related comparisons