Codestral 2508 vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking
Codestral 2508 costs 1.3x less per output token than Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking ($0.90 vs $1.20 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.90
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $1.20
Codestral 2508 or Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Codestral 2508 for output tokens 1.3x cheaper ($0.90 vs $1.20 per million).
No benchmark has tested both yet. Codestral 2508 has results on ALE-Bench, Kagi LLM Benchmark and Design Arena: websites; Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking on AA Coding Index, LMArena Text: coding and LMArena Text: software and IT. Compare them on price and context instead.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking has a AA Intelligence Index result, 11.2.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Codestral 2508 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1013.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking takes 262K tokens against 256K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
No call
Codestral 2508 $0.0008, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking $0.0008 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Codestral 2508 not benchmarked, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- None yet: no category has been tested on both models.
- Widest single gap
- None yet: no benchmark has tested both models.
- Output price
- Codestral 2508 $0.90 against Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking $1.20 per million output tokens, 1.3x apart.
- Context window
- Codestral 2508 takes 256K tokens, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking 262K.
Benchmark by benchmark
Every board either model has a result on, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale. Only one model is measured on each, so no row names a leader.
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index4 boards measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 17.4 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| ALE-Bench | 137.8 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | Not measured | 1392 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | Not measured | 1393 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 35 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 11.2 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | Not measured | 1371 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | Not measured | 1376 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | Not measured | 1384 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 32.5% | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 18 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: math | Not measured | 1399 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | Not measured | 1390 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 11 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: science | Not measured | 1384 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | Not measured | 1392 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | Not measured | 1364 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | Not measured | 1360 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 14 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1013 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1017 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 968 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1017 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1020 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1007 | Not measured | Only Codestral 2508 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 3 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index17 boards measured
| Benchmark | Codestral 2508 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | Not measured | 1368 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | Not measured | 1344 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | Not measured | 1314 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: English | Not measured | 1392 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | Not measured | 1342 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | Not measured | 1407 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: German | Not measured | 1356 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | Not measured | 1280 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | Not measured | 1310 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: French | Not measured | 1351 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | Not measured | 1358 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | Not measured | 1337 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | Not measured | 1345 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | Not measured | 1346 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | Not measured | 1353 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | Not measured | 1330 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | Not measured | 1312 | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 29 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Same cost
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Mistral Codestral 2508 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Mistral AI | Qwen |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | August 1, 2025 | September 11, 2025 |
| Context window | 256K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.30 | $0.15 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.90 | $1.20 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Codestral 2508 better than Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Codestral 2508 for output tokens 1.3x cheaper ($0.90 vs $1.20 per million).
Which is cheaper, Codestral 2508 or Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking?
Codestral 2508 costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $0.90 per million output tokens; Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking costs $0.15 and $1.20. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Codestral 2508 or Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking?
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking, with 262K tokens against 256K.
Has any benchmark tested both Codestral 2508 and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking?
No benchmark has tested both yet. Codestral 2508 has results on ALE-Bench, Kagi LLM Benchmark and Design Arena: websites; Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking on AA Coding Index, LMArena Text: coding and LMArena Text: software and IT. Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 21, 2026.