| Signal | Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) | Delta | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 67 | +17 | |
Pricing | 1 | -29 | |
Context window size | 95 | +9 | |
Recency | 95 | 0 | |
Output Capacity | 75 | +55 | |
| Overall Result | 3 wins | of 5 | 2 wins |
7
days higher
4
days
19
days higher
Alibaba
Alibaba
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) saves you $65.00/month
That's $780.00/year compared to Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 40 | 40 | -- |
| Rank | #199 | #198 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) |
| Quality Rank | #199 | #198 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) |
| Adoption Rank | #199 | #198 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) |
| Parameters | -- | 80B | -- |
| Context Window | 1000K | 262K | Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) |
| Pricing | $0.26/$0.78/M | Free | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 67 | 50 | Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) |
| Pricing | 1 | 30 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) |
| Context window size | 95 | 86 | Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) |
| Recency | 95 | 96 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) |
| Output Capacity | 75 | 20 | Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) |
Our score (0-100) is driven by benchmark performance (90%) from Arena Elo ratings, MMLU, GPQA, HumanEval, SWE-bench, and 15+ standardized evaluations. Capabilities and context window serve as tiebreakers (10%). Here's what the scores mean for these two models:
Scores 40/100 (rank #199), placing it in the top 32% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 40/100 (rank #198), placing it in the top 32% of all 290 models tracked.
With only a 0-point gap, these models are in the same performance tier. The practical difference in output quality is minimal - your choice should depend on pricing, latency requirements, and specific feature needs.
Both models are priced similarly, so the decision comes down to quality and features rather than cost.
Both models have comparable response speeds. For most applications, the latency difference is negligible.
When latency matters most: Interactive chatbots, IDE code completion, real-time translation, and user-facing applications where response time directly impacts experience. For batch processing, background summarization, or offline analysis, latency is less critical.
Code generation & review
Higher benchmark score (0/100) indicates stronger performance on coding tasks like generating functions, debugging, and refactoring
Customer support chatbot
Faster response time (speed score 0/100) is critical for user-facing chat. Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (1000K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($0.00/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily
Creative writing & content
Higher overall composite score (40/100) correlates with better nuance, coherence, and style in long-form content
Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) are extremely close in overall performance (only 0 points apart). Your best choice depends entirely on which specific strengths matter most for your use case.
Best for Quality
Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking)
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free)
100% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking)
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking)
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking)
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by Alibaba
by Alibaba
| Capability | Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input) | ||
| Function Calling | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoningdiffers | ||
| Web Search | ||
| Image Output |
Alibaba
Alibaba
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) saves you $1.40/month
That's 100% cheaper than Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) at 1,000 tokens/request and 100 requests/day.
Assumes 60% input / 40% output token ratio per request. Actual costs may vary based on your usage pattern.
| Parameter | Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 1M | 262K |
| Max Output Tokens | 32,768 | -- |
| Open Source | No | Yes |
| Created | Sep 8, 2025 | Sep 11, 2025 |
Both Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) score 40/100, making them extremely close competitors. Choose based on pricing, provider ecosystem, or specific capability requirements.
Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) is ranked #199 and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) is ranked #198 out of 290+ AI models. Rankings use a composite score combining benchmark performance (90%) from MMLU, GPQA, HumanEval, SWE-bench, and 15+ standardized evaluations, with capabilities and context window as tiebreakers (10%). Scores update hourly.
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) is cheaper at $0.00/M output tokens vs Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking)'s $0.78/M output tokens - 780.0x more expensive. Input token pricing: Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) at $0.26/M vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) at $0.00/M.
Qwen Plus 0728 (thinking) has a larger context window of 1,000,000 tokens compared to Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free)'s 262,144 tokens. A larger context window means the model can process longer documents and conversations.