API cost decision in 10 seconds

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 vs GPT-5.4 Image 2

Pick Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 for lower cost; pick GPT-5.4 Image 2 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 Image 2 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 $15.5 for GPT-5.4 Image 2, saving $15.26 (98.5% lower).

Cost-first pickQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507
Context-first pickGPT-5.4 Image 2
Sample savings$15.2698.5%
10x traffic gap$152.6

GPT-5.4 Image 2 has more context, but Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 saves $15.26 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $152.6. 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 shapeToken mixBetter pickQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507GPT-5.4 Image 2
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507$0.6$47.5
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507$0.39$23
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507$1.59$83
Cheaper input Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 $0.09 vs $8 / 1M

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $7.91 cheaper per 1M input tokens (98.9% lower; 88.9x difference).

Cheaper output Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 $0.3 vs $15 / 1M

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $14.7 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98% lower; 50x difference).

Larger context GPT-5.4 Image 2 262.14K vs 272K

GPT-5.4 Image 2 has 9.86K more context (1.04x larger).

Sample workload Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 $0.24 vs $15.5

Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $15.26 cheaper on the standard workload (98.5% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 Calculating… Estimated API cost
GPT-5.4 Image 2 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 Image 2 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 $0.24 for Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 and $15.5 for GPT-5.4 Image 2.

Best Fit

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

Choose GPT-5.4 Image 2 when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is estimated at $0.24 vs $15.5 for GPT-5.4 Image 2, saving $15.26 (98.5% lower).
  • Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $15.26 cheaper on the standard workload (98.5% lower).
  • Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $7.91 cheaper per 1M input tokens (98.9% lower; 88.9x difference).
  • Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 is $14.7 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98% lower; 50x difference).
  • GPT-5.4 Image 2 has 9.86K more context (1.04x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureQwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507
(Qwen)		GPT-5.4 Image 2
(OpenAI)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0.09$8
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$0.3$15
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$0.24$15.5
Context Window262.14K272K
Release Date
Popularity#110#137

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 $15.5 for GPT-5.4 Image 2, saving $15.26 (98.5% 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 Image 2A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • 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.
  • Qwen3.5-9B can replace Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.11.
Larger context near this budget
  • Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
  • GPT-5.4 offers 1.05M context with $10 sample workload cost.

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

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Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

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Provider catalogs

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Qwen catalog

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OpenAI catalog

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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...

GPT-5.4 Image 2

[GPT-5.4](https://openrouter.ai/openai/gpt-5.4) Image 2 combines OpenAI's GPT-5.4 model with state-of-the-art image generation capabilities from GPT Image 2. It enables rich multimodal workflows, allowing users to seamlessly move between reasoning, coding, and...