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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct vs Hermes 4 405B

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct comes out ahead, 40 to 35 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct

    Released Sep 2025Deprecated

    40/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.50 / $2.00
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct

  2. Nous Research

    Hermes 4 405B

    Released Aug 26, 2025

    35/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.00 / $3.00
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Hermes 4 405B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct is our pick

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 40/100 against Hermes 4 405B (35). It leads on price and context window. Hermes 4 405B wins on inputs & features. 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 priceQwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructQwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct $0.875 · Hermes 4 405B $1.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructQwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 262,144 · Hermes 4 405B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct: Text · Hermes 4 405B: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructHermes 4 405B
Price50%5040
Inputs & features30%2535
Context window20%3725
Overall100%40/10035/100

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-Next 80B-A3B Instruct vs Hermes 4 405B specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)Hermes 4 405BNous Research
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.50 (best)$1.00
Output$2.00 (best)$3.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.875 (best)$1.50
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIMedian of 5 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output32,768 tokens117,964 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDqwen3-next-80b-a3b-instruct—
API providers18 (best)5
ReleasedSep 2025Aug 26, 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 2025Aug 31, 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-Next 80B-A3B Instruct$9.00
  • Hermes 4 405B$16.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct or Hermes 4 405B?

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 40/100 against Hermes 4 405B (35). It leads on price and context window. Hermes 4 405B wins on inputs & features. 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-Next 80B-A3B Instruct or Hermes 4 405B?

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct is cheaper at $0.50 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Hermes 4 405B costs $1.00 input / $3.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.875 per million tokens for Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct versus $1.50 for Hermes 4 405B (1.7× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct has not been scored yet and Hermes 4 405B has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct and Hermes 4 405B 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-Next 80B-A3B Instruct has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for Hermes 4 405B. Maximum output per response: Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct up to 32,768, Hermes 4 405B up to 117,964 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct accepts text; Hermes 4 405B 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?

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct is the newest, released Sep 2025. Hermes 4 405B came out Aug 26, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct Apr 2025, Hermes 4 405B Aug 31, 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 Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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