Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is $0.37 cheaper per 1M input tokens (74% lower; 3.85x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
R1 0528 vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Pick Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct when budget and context both matter.
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Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct when budget and context both matter.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is estimated at $0.39 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $1.19 (75.2% lower).
Cost-first pickQwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Context-first pickQwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct
Sample savings$1.1975.2%
10x traffic gap$11.85
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $11.85. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | R1 0528 | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct | $3.58 | $0.91 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct | $2.65 | $0.65 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct | $11.25 | $2.73 |
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is $1.63 cheaper per 1M output tokens (75.8% lower; 4.13x difference).
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct has 98.3K more context (1.6x larger).
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is $1.19 cheaper on the standard workload (75.2% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.
Quick Decision
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct has the lower input price; Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct has the lower output price; Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.57 for R1 0528 and $0.39 for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct.
Choose R1 0528 when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.
Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is estimated at $0.39 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $1.19 (75.2% lower).
- Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is $1.19 cheaper on the standard workload (75.2% lower).
- Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is $0.37 cheaper per 1M input tokens (74% lower; 3.85x difference).
- Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is $1.63 cheaper per 1M output tokens (75.8% lower; 4.13x difference).
- Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct has 98.3K more context (1.6x larger).
| Feature | R1 0528 (DeepSeek) | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.5 | $0.13 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $2.15 | $0.52 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $1.57 | $0.39 |
| Context Window | 163.84K | 262.14K |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #106 | #116 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct is estimated at $0.39 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $1.19 (75.2% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.2.
- R1 Distill Qwen 32B can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.43.
- DeepSeek V3.2 can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.44.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
- Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.87 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
- Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4
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