Llama 3.1 405B vs Qwen 2.5 VL 72B

Compare Llama 3.1 405B and Qwen 2.5 VL 72B: pricing, performance, context window, latency, and best use cases. Side-by-side comparison on XALEN.

Updated 2026-05-21 · By Abhishek Raj · Our methodology

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Feature Llama 3.1 405B Qwen 2.5 VL 72B
CategoryOpen SourceVision
Parameters405B72B
Context Window128K128K
Input Price$0.08/1M tokens$0.05/1M tokens
Output Price$0.14/1M tokens$0.10/1M tokens
Latency~600ms~400ms

Choose Llama 3.1 405B when:

  • ✓ Premium tasks
  • ✓ Research
  • ✓ Fine-tuning base
Key Strengths:

Largest open model, Highest open-source quality

Choose Qwen 2.5 VL 72B when:

  • ✓ Document analysis
  • ✓ Chart reading
  • ✓ Visual Q&A
Key Strengths:

Vision + language, Strong Asian text OCR, Good reasoning

Verdict: Llama 3.1 405B vs Qwen 2.5 VL 72B

For cost efficiency, Qwen 2.5 VL 72B wins at $0.05/1M input tokens. For speed, Qwen 2.5 VL 72B is faster at ~400ms. Llama 3.1 405B excels at Premium tasks while Qwen 2.5 VL 72B is better for Document analysis. Both are available on XALEN through a single API — try them in the Playground to see which fits your workload.

Detailed Analysis

Pricing Comparison

Llama 3.1 405B costs $0.08/1M input tokens and $0.14/1M output tokens. Qwen 2.5 VL 72B costs $0.05 input and $0.10 output. Qwen 2.5 VL 72B is 1.6x cheaper on input tokens. XALEN offers batch processing at 50% discount on both models.

Performance & Context

Llama 3.1 405B has a 128K context window with ~600ms latency. Qwen 2.5 VL 72B offers 128K context at ~400ms. Both have identical context windows.

Best For

Llama 3.1 405B (Open Source) is optimized for: Premium tasks, Research, Fine-tuning base. Qwen 2.5 VL 72B (Vision) works best for: Document analysis, Chart reading, Visual Q&A.

Try Both on XALEN

Both models are available through XALEN's OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between them by changing the model parameter:

from xalen import XALEN

client = XALEN(api_key="xln_test_YOUR_KEY")

# Use Llama 3.1 405B
response_a = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="llama-3-1-405b",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

# Use Qwen 2.5 VL 72B
response_b = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="qwen-2-5-vl-72b",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

Start Building with XALEN

200+ AI models. One API. Pay-as-you-go.

Get API Key Try in Playground

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Llama 3.1 405B or Qwen 2.5 VL 72B?

Llama 3.1 405B (Open Source, 405B) offers Largest open model. Qwen 2.5 VL 72B (Vision, 72B) offers Vision + language. Choose Llama 3.1 405B for Premium tasks or Qwen 2.5 VL 72B for Document analysis.

How much does Llama 3.1 405B cost vs Qwen 2.5 VL 72B?

Llama 3.1 405B: $0.08/1M input, $0.14/1M output. Qwen 2.5 VL 72B: $0.05/1M input, $0.10/1M output. Both available on XALEN with batch processing at 50% discount.

Can I use both models on XALEN?

Yes. XALEN provides 200+ models through a single OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between Llama 3.1 405B and Qwen 2.5 VL 72B by changing the model parameter. No code changes needed.

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Last updated: 2026-05-21. Pricing and specifications may change. Check pricing page for latest rates.