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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct vs Jamba Mini

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct comes out ahead, 62 to 55 on our weighted score.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct

    Released Oct 4, 2025

    62/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.60
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct

  2. AI21 Labs

    Jamba Mini

    Released Jan 8, 2026

    55/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.20 / $0.40
    • Context256K
    Full specs Remove Jamba Mini

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is our pick

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Jamba Mini (55). It leads 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 priceJamba MiniJamba Mini $0.25 · Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct $0.263 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3 VL 30B A3B InstructQwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct 262,144 · Jamba Mini 256,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3 VL 30B A3B InstructQwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct: Text, Images, Video · Jamba Mini: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 VL 30B A3B InstructJamba Mini
Price50%7475
Inputs & features30%6035
Context window20%3736
Overall100%62/10055/100

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 VL 30B A3B Instruct vs Jamba Mini specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 VL 30B A3B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)Jamba MiniAI21 Labs
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.15 (best)$0.20
Output$0.60$0.40 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.263$0.25 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 13 providersOfficial AI21 Labs API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)256,000 tokens
Max output32,768 tokens (best)4,096 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenApache-2.0Open
API model ID—jamba-mini
API providers13 (best)1
ReleasedOct 4, 2025Jan 8, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—Aug 22, 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 VL 30B A3B Instruct$2.70
  • Jamba Mini$2.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct or Jamba Mini?

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Jamba Mini (55). It leads 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 VL 30B A3B Instruct or Jamba Mini?

Jamba Mini is cheaper at $0.20 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official AI21 Labs API price). Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct costs $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (median across 13 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.25 per million tokens for Jamba Mini versus $0.263 for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct (1.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct has not been scored yet and Jamba Mini has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct and Jamba Mini 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 VL 30B A3B Instruct has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 256,000 for Jamba Mini. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct up to 32,768, Jamba Mini up to 4,096 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct accepts text, images and video; Jamba Mini accepts text. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (Apache-2.0), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Jamba Mini is the newest, released Jan 8, 2026. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct came out Oct 4, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Jamba Mini Aug 22, 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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