Qwen2.5-72B for open-source llms
Qwen2.5-72B is ranked #7 on LLMDex's open-source llms ranking out of 8 models we track for this use case. Below, the specific reasons it slots where it does, and when you should reach for an alternative.
Updated
At a glance
- Rank
- #7 of 8
- Context
- 128K tokens
- Output / 1M
- Pricing not published
- Released
- Sep 2024
Why Qwen2.5-72B fits this task
Three things about Qwen2.5-72B that map directly onto what this task rewards: Apache-2.0; Strong multilingual. Beyond the task-specific fit, Qwen2.5-72B also brings mature deployment, both of which compound when the workload broadens.
The criteria this task rewards
LLMDex ranks best open-source llms on 5 criteria , these are the axes the ranking uses, in priority order:
- Composite benchmark performance
- License permissiveness (Apache, MIT, custom OSS)
- Inference economics on commodity GPUs
- Fine-tuning ecosystem maturity
- Multilingual coverage
How Qwen2.5-72B scores on each axis
Where Qwen2.5-72B costs you: superseded by qwen3 for new builds. For most teams this is acceptable on this workload, the value of the strengths above outweighs the cost. For cost-bound workloads or teams with strict latency budgets, run an eval against the next two ranked models on real data before committing.
Strengths that pay off here
- Mature deployment
- Apache-2.0
- Strong multilingual
Tracked weaknesses
- Superseded by Qwen3 for new builds
When to pick something else
If you can pay slightly more or accept slightly different tradeoffs, Mixtral 8×22B from Mistral ranks one position higher and tends to win on the hardest cases. Mistral's largest open-weight MoE, Apache-2.0, still widely deployed.
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Other models for open-source llms
- Llama 4 405B for open-source llms
Meta's flagship open-weight model, sparse MoE design competitive with closed-frontier flagships.
Read guide - DeepSeek-V3 for open-source llms
DeepSeek's flagship 671B-parameter MoE, frontier-level quality at a tiny fraction of frontier prices.
Read guide - Qwen3-72B for open-source llms
Alibaba's flagship open-weight Qwen3, strong on multilingual, code, and math, Apache-2.0 licensed.
Read guide - Llama 4 70B for open-source llms
Meta's mid-tier Llama 4, the practical workhorse for self-hosted deployments.
Read guide - DeepSeek-R1 for open-source llms
First open-weight reasoning model to match o1, the release that proved RL-from-scratch reasoning training was reproducible.
Read guide
Qwen2.5-72B for other use cases
Direct comparisons
Frequently asked
Is Qwen2.5-72B good for open-source llms?
Qwen2.5-72B is ranked #7 on LLMDex's open-source llms list. The previous-generation Qwen flagship, still widely deployed for stability.How much does Qwen2.5-72B cost for open-source llms?
Alibaba has not published per-token pricing for Qwen2.5-72B at the time of writing.What's a cheaper alternative to Qwen2.5-72B for open-source llms?
The next ranked model on this task is Llama 3.3 70B. Compare both before committing.When should I NOT use Qwen2.5-72B for open-source llms?
Tracked weakness: Superseded by Qwen3 for new builds. If that constraint is binding for your workload, the next-ranked model on this task is the safer pick.
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