Qwen3 Coder Next vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct
Side-by-side comparison of VRAM requirements, quantization, context length, and hardware compatibility.
Specifications
| Qwen3 Coder Next | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct | |
|---|---|---|
| Parameters | 79.7B | 81.3B |
| Context | 262K | 262K |
| Architecture | Qwen3NextForCausalLM | Qwen3NextForCausalLM |
| License | Apache 2.0 | Apache 2.0 |
| Downloads | 979.4K | 367.5K |
| Released | Feb 2026 | Sep 2025 |
VRAM by Quantization: Qwen3 Coder Next vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct
| Quantization | Bits | Qwen3 Coder Next VRAM | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K | 3.40 | 34.3 GB | 35.0 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 3.90 | 39.2 GB | 40.0 GB |
| Q3_K_S | 3.50 | 35.3 GB | 36.0 GB |
| Q4_0 | 4.00 | 40.2 GB | 41.1 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 4.80 | 48.2 GB | 49.2 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 5.70 | 57.2 GB | 58.3 GB |
| Q6_K | 6.60 | 66.1 GB | 67.5 GB |
| Q8_0 | 8.00 | 80.1 GB | 81.7 GB |
Verdict
Qwen3 Coder Next needs less VRAM at Q4_K_M (48.2 GB vs 49.2 GB), so it fits on smaller GPUs. Qwen3 Coder Next is the more widely downloaded of the two.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Which needs less VRAM, Qwen3 Coder Next or Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct?
At Q4_K_M, Qwen3 Coder Next needs 48.2 GB and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct needs 49.2 GB, so Qwen3 Coder Next is the lighter option to run locally.
- Which has a longer context window, Qwen3 Coder Next or Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct?
Qwen3 Coder Next supports 262,144 tokens and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct supports 262,144 tokens.
- What is the difference between Qwen3 Coder Next and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct?
Qwen3 Coder Next is a 79.7B model from Alibaba (Qwen family), while Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct is a 81.3B model from Alibaba (Qwen family). Compare their VRAM requirements above to see which fits your GPU or Mac.