API cost decision in 10 seconds

GPT-5.4 Nano vs Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507

Pick Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 for lower cost; pick GPT-5.4 Nano only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated:  Data confirmed:  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 GPT-5.4 Nano 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 $0.24 vs $0.82 for GPT-5.4 Nano, saving $0.58 (70.9% lower).

Cost-first pickQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507
Context-first pickGPT-5.4 Nano
Sample savings$0.5870.9%
10x traffic gap$5.85

GPT-5.4 Nano has more context, but Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 saves $0.58 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $5.85. 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 shapeToken mixBetter pickGPT-5.4 NanoQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507$1.62$0.6
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507$1.45$0.39
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507$6.45$1.59
Cheaper input Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 $0.2 vs $0.09 / 1M

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.11 cheaper per 1M input tokens (55% lower; 2.22x difference).

Cheaper output Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 $1.25 vs $0.3 / 1M

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.95 cheaper per 1M output tokens (76% lower; 4.17x difference).

Larger context GPT-5.4 Nano 400K vs 262.14K

GPT-5.4 Nano has 137.86K more context (1.53x larger).

Sample workload Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 $0.82 vs $0.24

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.58 cheaper on the standard workload (70.9% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
GPT-5.4 Nano 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; GPT-5.4 Nano 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 $0.82 for GPT-5.4 Nano and $0.24 for Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507.

Best Fit

Choose GPT-5.4 Nano 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 $0.24 vs $0.82 for GPT-5.4 Nano, saving $0.58 (70.9% lower).
  • Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.58 cheaper on the standard workload (70.9% lower).
  • Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.11 cheaper per 1M input tokens (55% lower; 2.22x difference).
  • Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.95 cheaper per 1M output tokens (76% lower; 4.17x difference).
  • GPT-5.4 Nano has 137.86K more context (1.53x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureGPT-5.4 Nano
(OpenAI)
Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507
(Qwen)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$0.2$0.09
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$1.25$0.3
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$0.82$0.24
Context Window400K262.14K
Release Date
Popularity#32#110

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is estimated at $0.24 vs $0.82 for GPT-5.4 Nano, saving $0.58 (70.9% lower).
High-volume input processingQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workGPT-5.4 NanoA larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT-5.4 Nano when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-5.4 Nano when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-5.4 Nano when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
  • gpt-oss-120b can replace GPT-5.4 Nano when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.13.
Larger context near this budget

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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OpenAI catalog

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Qwen catalog

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GPT-5.4 Nano

GPT-5.4 nano is the most lightweight and cost-efficient variant of the GPT-5.4 family, optimized for speed-critical and high-volume tasks. It supports text and image inputs and is designed for low-latency...

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...