QwQ Plus vs Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct
Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 39, QwQ Plus 38). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Alibaba (Qwen)QwQ Plus
38/100- ECI—
- Price$0.80 / $2.40
- Context131K
- Alibaba (Qwen)
Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct
39/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $2.00
- Context131K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 39/100, QwQ Plus 38/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct on price. 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 · QwQ Plus $1.20 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameQwQ Plus 131,072 · Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsQwQ Plus: Text · Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct: Text
- Self-hostingQwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | QwQ Plus | Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 46 | 53 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 38/100 | 39/100 |
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 | QwQ PlusAlibaba (Qwen) | Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 65.4% | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.80 | $0.50 (best) |
| Output | $2.40 | $2.00 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.20 | $0.875 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 32,768 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | qwq-plus | qwen3-next-80b-a3b-instruct |
| API providers | 2 | 13 (best) |
| Released | Mar 5, 2025 | Sep 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | 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.
- QwQ Plus$12.80
- Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct$9.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: QwQ Plus or Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 39/100, QwQ Plus 38/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct on price. 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, QwQ Plus or Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct?
Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct is cheaper at $0.50 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). QwQ Plus costs $0.80 input / $2.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). 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 $1.20 for QwQ Plus (1.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. QwQ Plus has not been scored yet and Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for QwQ Plus and Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 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?
QwQ Plus and Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct share the same 131,072-token context window. Maximum output per response: QwQ Plus up to 8,192, Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
QwQ Plus accepts text; Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 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; QwQ Plus is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct is the newest, released Sep 2025. QwQ Plus came out Mar 5, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: QwQ Plus Apr 2024, 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 Oct 4, 2026.
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