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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct vs Relace Apply 3

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct comes out ahead, 40 to 32 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. Relace

    Relace Apply 3

    Released Sep 26, 2025

    32/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.85 / $1.25
    • Context256K
    Full specs Remove Relace Apply 3

  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 Relace Apply 3 (32). It leads on price and 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 · Relace Apply 3 $0.95 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructQwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 262,144 · Relace Apply 3 256,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct: Text · Relace Apply 3: Text
  • Self-hostingQwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructRelace Apply 3
Price50%5049
Inputs & features30%250
Context window20%3736
Overall100%40/10032/100

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 Relace Apply 3 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)Relace Apply 3Relace
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.50 (best)$0.85
Output$2.00$1.25 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.875 (best)$0.95
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIMedian of 3 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)256,000 tokens
Max output32,768 tokens128,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesNo
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model IDqwen3-next-80b-a3b-instruct—
API providers18 (best)3
ReleasedSep 2025Sep 26, 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-Next 80B-A3B Instruct$9.00
  • Relace Apply 3$11.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct or Relace Apply 3?

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 40/100 against Relace Apply 3 (32). It leads on price and 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 Relace Apply 3?

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct is cheaper at $0.50 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Relace Apply 3 costs $0.85 input / $1.25 output per million tokens (median across 3 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 $0.95 for Relace Apply 3 (1.1× 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 Relace Apply 3 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 Relace Apply 3 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Relace Apply 3 does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 256,000 for Relace Apply 3. Maximum output per response: Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct up to 32,768, Relace Apply 3 up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct accepts text; Relace Apply 3 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Relace Apply 3 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Relace Apply 3 is the newest, released Sep 26, 2025. Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct came out Sep 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3-Next 80B-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 Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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