Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking vs Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking leads Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 11.2 to 7.3, and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct costs 1.6x less per output token ($0.75 vs $1.20 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 1 benchmarks have a result for both.
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
- Shared results
- 1
- Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking only
- 29
- Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct only
- 10
- Like-for-like categories
- 1 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
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
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking leads, 11.2 against 7.3.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
No call
Both take 262K tokens.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking $0.0008, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct $0.0006 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking not benchmarked, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Intelligence, 3.9 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- AA Intelligence Index: Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking 11.2 against Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct 7.3, 3.9 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking $1.20 against Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct $0.75 per million output tokens, 1.6x apart.
- Context window
- Both take 262K tokens.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Bars | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 1 | 0 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | 17.4 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 35.3% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 3.8% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1392 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1393 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 34 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 11.2 | 7.3 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 29.2% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 57.9% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 3.8% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1371 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1376 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1384 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 17 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | Not measured | 30.7 | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 30.7% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1399 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1390 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 74.9% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1384 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1392 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1364 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1360 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index19 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | Not measured | 39.9% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | Not measured | 33.3% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text | 1368 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1344 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1314 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1392 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1342 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1407 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: German | 1356 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1280 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1310 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1351 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1358 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1337 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1345 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1346 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1353 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1330 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1312 | Not measured | Only Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 27 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 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
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct costs less
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 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Qwen | Qwen |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | September 11, 2025 | October 14, 2025 |
| Context window | 262K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.15 | $0.25 |
| Output $/Mtok | $1.20 | $0.75 |
| 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 Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking better than Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking costs $0.15 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens; Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct costs $0.25 and $0.75. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?
Neither: both take 262K tokens.
How many benchmarks is the Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking vs Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct comparison based on?
1 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.