Step 1 (32K) vs Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct vs Qwen-MT Plus
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct comes out ahead, 28 to 18 and 12 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
StepFunStep 1 (32K)
18/100- ECI—
- Price$2.05 / $9.59
- Context33K
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct
28/100- ECI—
- Price$1.50 / $7.50
- Context262K
- Alibaba (Qwen)
Qwen-MT Plus
12/100- ECI—
- Price$2.46 / $7.37
- Context16K
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is our pick
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 28/100 against Step 1 (32K) (18) and Qwen-MT Plus (12). It leads on price and context window. 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-Coder 480B-A35B InstructQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct $3.00 · Qwen-MT Plus $3.69 · Step 1 (32K) $3.94 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct 262,144 · Step 1 (32K) 32,768 · Qwen-MT Plus 16,384 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsStep 1 (32K): Text · Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct: Text · Qwen-MT Plus: Text
- Self-hostingQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Step 1 (32K) | Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct | Qwen-MT Plus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 22 | 27 | 23 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 25 | 0 |
| Context window | 20% | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 18/100 | 28/100 | 12/100 |
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 | Step 1 (32K)StepFun | Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructAlibaba (Qwen) | Qwen-MT PlusAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $2.05 | $1.50 (best) | $2.46 |
| Output | $9.59 | $7.50 | $7.37 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.41 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.94 | $3.00 (best) | $3.69 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Over 32K: $2.70 / $13.50 | Same rate |
| Price source | Official StepFun (Global) API | Official Alibaba API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 32,768 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) | 16,384 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | No |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | step-1-32k | qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct | qwen-mt-plus |
| API providers | 1 | 7 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Jan 1, 2025 | Apr 2025 | Jan 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jun 2024 | Apr 2025 | Apr 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Step 1 (32K)$39.68
- Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct$30.00
- Qwen-MT Plus$39.34
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Step 1 (32K), Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct or Qwen-MT Plus?
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 28/100 against Step 1 (32K) (18) and Qwen-MT Plus (12). It leads on price and context window. 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, Step 1 (32K), Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct or Qwen-MT Plus?
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is cheaper at $1.50 input / $7.50 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Qwen-MT Plus costs $2.46 input / $7.37 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price); Step 1 (32K) costs $2.05 input / $9.59 output per million tokens (official StepFun (Global) API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $3.00 per million tokens for Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct versus $3.69 for Qwen-MT Plus (1.2× as much) and $3.94 for Step 1 (32K) (1.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Step 1 (32K) has not been scored yet, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct has not been scored yet and Qwen-MT Plus has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Step 1 (32K), Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct and Qwen-MT Plus yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Qwen-MT Plus does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 32,768 for Step 1 (32K) and 16,384 for Qwen-MT Plus. Maximum output per response: Step 1 (32K) up to 32,768, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct up to 65,536, Qwen-MT Plus up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Step 1 (32K) accepts text; Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct accepts text; Qwen-MT Plus accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Step 1 (32K) and Qwen-MT Plus is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is the newest, released Apr 2025. Step 1 (32K) came out Jan 1, 2025; Qwen-MT Plus came out Jan 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Step 1 (32K) Jun 2024, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct Apr 2025, Qwen-MT Plus Apr 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 Oct 4, 2026.
