Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B vs Pixtral Large (25.02)
Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B comes out ahead, 59 to 33 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B
59/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $0.80
- Context131K
Mistral AIPixtral Large (25.02)
33/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context128K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B is our pick
Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against Pixtral Large (25.02) (33). 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-VL 30B-A3BQwen3-VL 30B-A3B $0.35 · Pixtral Large (25.02) $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3-VL 30B-A3BQwen3-VL 30B-A3B 131,072 · Pixtral Large (25.02) 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3-VL 30B-A3B: Text, Images · Pixtral Large (25.02): Text, Images
- Self-hostingQwen3-VL 30B-A3BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B | Pixtral Large (25.02) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 72 | 27 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 50 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 59/100 | 33/100 |
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) | Pixtral Large (25.02)Mistral AI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.20 (best) | $2.00 |
| Output | $0.80 (best) | $6.00 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.35 (best) | $3.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Median of 3 providers |
| 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 | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwen3-vl-30b-a3b | — |
| API providers | 1 | 3 (best) |
| Released | Apr 2025 | Apr 8, 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
- Pixtral Large (25.02)$32.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B or Pixtral Large (25.02)?
Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against Pixtral Large (25.02) (33). 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-VL 30B-A3B or Pixtral Large (25.02)?
Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B is cheaper at $0.20 input / $0.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Pixtral Large (25.02) costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.35 per million tokens for Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B versus $3.00 for Pixtral Large (25.02) (8.6× as much).
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 Pixtral Large (25.02) has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B and Pixtral Large (25.02) 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 Pixtral Large (25.02). Maximum output per response: Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B up to 32,768, Pixtral Large (25.02) up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B accepts text and images; Pixtral Large (25.02) accepts text and images. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Qwen3-VL 30B-A3B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Pixtral Large (25.02) is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Pixtral Large (25.02) is the newest, released Apr 8, 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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