API cost decision in 10 seconds

DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus vs Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507

Pick Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 for lower cost; pick DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-06-25T15:07:26Z Data confirmed: 2026-07-10T20:08:14Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 for lower cost; pick DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is estimated at $0.14 vs $0.74 for DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus, saving $0.6 (80.6% lower).

Cost-first pickQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507

Context-first pickDeepSeek V3.1 Terminus

Sample savings$0.680.6%

10x traffic gap$6

DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus has more context, but Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 saves $0.6 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $6. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus	Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507	$1.83	$0.34
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507	$1.22	$0.24
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507	$5.02	$1.01

Cheaper input Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 $0.27 vs $0.0481 / 1M

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.22 cheaper per 1M input tokens (82.2% lower; 5.61x difference).

Cheaper output Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 $0.95 vs $0.193 / 1M

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.76 cheaper per 1M output tokens (79.7% lower; 4.92x difference).

Larger context DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus 163.84K vs 131.07K

DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus has 32.77K more context (1.25x larger).

Sample workload Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 $0.74 vs $0.14

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.6 cheaper on the standard workload (80.6% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus Calculating… Estimated API cost

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

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

Verdict

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 has the lower input price; Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 has the lower output price; DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.74 for DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus and $0.14 for Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507.

Best Fit

Choose DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is estimated at $0.14 vs $0.74 for DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus, saving $0.6 (80.6% lower).
Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.6 cheaper on the standard workload (80.6% lower).
Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.22 cheaper per 1M input tokens (82.2% lower; 5.61x difference).
Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.76 cheaper per 1M output tokens (79.7% lower; 4.92x difference).
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus has 32.77K more context (1.25x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus (DeepSeek)	Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 (Qwen)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.27	$0.0481
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.95	$0.193
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.74	$0.14
Context Window	163.84K	131.07K
Release Date	2025-09-22	2025-07-29
Popularity	#82	#90

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is estimated at $0.14 vs $0.74 for DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus, saving $0.6 (80.6% lower).
High-volume input processing	Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) can replace DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
DeepSeek V4 Flash can replace DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.17.
DeepSeek V3.2 can replace DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.38.
R1 Distill Qwen 32B can replace DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.43.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.25 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.17 sample workload cost.
MiMo-V2.5 offers 1.05M context with $0.24 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
MiMo-V2.5 · Xiaomi · #3
MiniMax M3 · MiniMax · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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DeepSeek catalog

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Qwen catalog

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DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus

DeepSeek-V3.1 Terminus is an update to [DeepSeek V3.1](/deepseek/deepseek-chat-v3.1) that maintains the model's original capabilities while addressing issues reported by users, including language consistency and agent capabilities, further optimizing the model's...

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507

Qwen3-30B-A3B-Instruct-2507 is a 30.5B-parameter mixture-of-experts language model from Qwen, with 3.3B active parameters per inference. It operates in non-thinking mode and is designed for high-quality instruction following, multilingual understanding, and...