Qwen3 30B-A3B vs Qwen3 32B — MoE speed versus dense quality inside the Qwen3 family. Below is the full side-by-side: specifications, API pricing, context window, local hardware requirements, and a clear, data-driven recommendation on which to pick.
| Spec | Qwen3 30B-A3B | Qwen3 32B |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Alibaba | Alibaba |
| Type | LLM (MoE) | LLM (dense) |
| Parameters | 30B total / 3B active (MoE) | 32B |
| Context window | 128K | 128K |
| Modality | Text → Text | Text → Text |
| License | Apache 2.0 (open) | Apache 2.0 (open) |
| Open weights | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Input price ($/1M) | $0.12 | $0.08 |
| Output price ($/1M) | $0.5 | $0.28 |
| VRAM (4-bit) | ~18 GB | ~20 GB |
| Min GPU (local) | RTX 4090 24GB (Q4) — fast, 3B active | RTX 4090 24GB (Q4) |
| Released | 2025 | 2025 |
Key differences
- Cost: Qwen3 32B is 65% cheaper than Qwen3 30B-A3B on a blended-token basis.
- Openness: both are open-weight, so either can be self-hosted or fine-tuned. Compare their VRAM needs above to see what your GPU can run.
- Run Qwen3 30B-A3B locally: ~~18 GB at 4-bit (min RTX 4090 24GB (Q4) — fast, 3B active).
- Run Qwen3 32B locally: ~~20 GB at 4-bit (min RTX 4090 24GB (Q4)).
Which should you choose?
Choose Qwen3 30B-A3B if it fits your existing stack or you prefer Alibaba.
Choose Qwen3 32B if you want the lower per-token cost for high-volume workloads.
→ Estimate real costs in the API cost calculator · check local hardware in the VRAM calculator · browse all 30+ models.
All specs and prices are pulled live from our AI models database and kept current. Compare either model against others, or estimate your own monthly spend with the free calculators above.