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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct vs Pixtral 12B

Pixtral 12B comes out ahead, 64 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

    Mistral AI

    Pixtral 12B

    Released Sep 1, 2024

    64/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.15
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Pixtral 12B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Pixtral 12B is our pick

Pixtral 12B is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 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 pricePixtral 12BPixtral 12B $0.15 · 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 · Pixtral 12B 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsPixtral 12BQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct: Text · Pixtral 12B: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructPixtral 12B
Price50%2789
Inputs & features30%2550
Context window20%3724
Overall100%28/10064/100

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 Pixtral 12B specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)Pixtral 12BMistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$1.50$0.15 (best)
Output$7.50$0.15 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$3.00$0.15 (best)
Long-context rateOver 32K: $2.70 / $13.50Same rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens128,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDqwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instructpixtral-12b
API providers7 (best)4
ReleasedApr 2025Sep 1, 2024
Knowledge cutoffApr 2025Sep 2024
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
  • Pixtral 12B$1.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct or Pixtral 12B?

Pixtral 12B is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 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 Pixtral 12B?

Pixtral 12B is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct costs $1.50 input / $7.50 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for Pixtral 12B versus $3.00 for Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct (20× as much).

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 Pixtral 12B 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 Pixtral 12B 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 Pixtral 12B. Maximum output per response: Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct up to 65,536, Pixtral 12B up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct accepts text; Pixtral 12B accepts text and images. Pixtral 12B handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

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

Which is newer?

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is the newest, released Apr 2025. Pixtral 12B came out Sep 1, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct Apr 2025, Pixtral 12B Sep 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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