Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B vs Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B comes out ahead, 65 to 59 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B
59/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $0.80
- Context131K
- Our pick
NVIDIALlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B
65/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context128K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
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-VL 30B-A3B (59). It leads on price. Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B 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 priceLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B Free · Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B $0.35 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3-VL 30B-A3BQwen3-VL 30B-A3B 131,072 · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen3-VL 30B-A3BQwen3-VL 30B-A3B: Text, Images · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 72 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 59/100 | 65/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Qwen3-VL 30B-A3BAlibaba (Qwen) | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BNVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.20 | Free (best) |
| Output | $0.80 | Free (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.35 | Free (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Nvidia API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | Open |
| API model ID | qwen3-vl-30b-a3b | nvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1 |
| API providers | 1 | 1 |
| Released | Apr 2025 | Apr 7, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2025 | — |
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$3.60
- Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BFree
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B (59). It leads on price. Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B 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-VL 30B-A3B 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-VL 30B-A3B costs $0.20 input / $0.80 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-VL 30B-A3B 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-VL 30B-A3B 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-VL 30B-A3B has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B. Maximum output per response: Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B up to 32,768, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B accepts text and images; Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B accepts text. Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B 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?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the newest, released Apr 7, 2025. Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B came out Apr 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B 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.
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