Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.02 cheaper per 1M input tokens (26% lower; 1.35x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 vs Phi 4
Pick Phi 4 for lower cost; pick Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 only if the larger context window matters more.
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Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Phi 4 for lower cost; pick Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Phi 4 is estimated at $0.14 vs $0.14 for Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507, saving $0.0096 (6.6% lower).
Cost-first pickPhi 4
Context-first pickQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507
Sample savings$0.00966.6%
10x traffic gap$0.1
Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 has more context, but Phi 4 saves $0.0096 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.1. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507, balanced workload favors Phi 4, and output-heavy chatbot favors Phi 4.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 | Phi 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 | $0.34 | $0.4 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Phi 4 | $0.24 | $0.21 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Phi 4 | $1.01 | $0.77 |
Phi 4 is $0.05 cheaper per 1M output tokens (27.5% lower; 1.38x difference).
Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 has 114.69K more context (8x larger).
Phi 4 is $0.0096 cheaper on the standard workload (6.6% 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 30B A3B Instruct 2507 has the lower input price; Phi 4 has the lower output price; Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Phi 4 is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.14 for Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 and $0.14 for Phi 4.
Choose Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.
Choose Phi 4 when you care most about lower output-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Phi 4 is estimated at $0.14 vs $0.14 for Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507, saving $0.0096 (6.6% lower).
- Phi 4 is $0.0096 cheaper on the standard workload (6.6% lower).
- Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $0.02 cheaper per 1M input tokens (26% lower; 1.35x difference).
- Phi 4 is $0.05 cheaper per 1M output tokens (27.5% lower; 1.38x difference).
- Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 has 114.69K more context (8x larger).
| Feature | Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 (Qwen) | Phi 4 (Microsoft) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.0481 | $0.065 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0.193 | $0.14 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0.14 | $0.14 |
| Context Window | 131.07K | 16.38K |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #90 | #139 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Phi 4 | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Phi 4 is estimated at $0.14 vs $0.14 for Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507, saving $0.0096 (6.6% 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 | Phi 4 | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) can replace Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (free) can replace Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Qwen2.5 7B Instruct can replace Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
- Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 can replace Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.14.
- Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- Lyria 3 Pro Preview offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- Lyria 3 Clip Preview offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
- MiMo-V2.5 · Xiaomi · #3
- MiniMax M3 · MiniMax · #4
Cheaper alternatives
Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
Open cheapest modelsLarger context alternatives
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Open provider hubsQwen catalog
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Check other Microsoft models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.
Open Microsoft modelsQwen3-30B-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...
[Microsoft Research](/microsoft) Phi-4 is designed to perform well in complex reasoning tasks and can operate efficiently in situations with limited memory or where quick responses are needed. At 14 billion...