Qwen3 Embedding 8B vs OpenAI text-embedding-3-large
Detailed comparison between Qwen3 Embedding 8B and OpenAI text-embedding-3-large. See which embedding best meets your accuracy and performance needs.
Model Comparison
OpenAI text-embedding-3-large takes the lead.
Both Qwen3 Embedding 8B and OpenAI text-embedding-3-large are powerful embedding models designed to improve retrieval quality in RAG applications. However, their performance characteristics differ in important ways.
Why OpenAI text-embedding-3-large:
- OpenAI text-embedding-3-large has 23 higher ELO rating
- OpenAI text-embedding-3-large is 97836ms faster on average
- OpenAI text-embedding-3-large has a 7.8% higher win rate
Overview
Key metrics
ELO Rating
Overall ranking quality
Qwen3 Embedding 8B
OpenAI text-embedding-3-large
Win Rate
Head-to-head performance
Qwen3 Embedding 8B
OpenAI text-embedding-3-large
Accuracy (nDCG@10)
Ranking quality metric
Qwen3 Embedding 8B
OpenAI text-embedding-3-large
Average Latency
Response time
Qwen3 Embedding 8B
OpenAI text-embedding-3-large
Visual Performance Analysis
Performance
ELO Rating Comparison
Win/Loss/Tie Breakdown
Accuracy Across Datasets (nDCG@10)
Latency Distribution (ms)
Breakdown
How the models stack up
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-large | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Performance | |||
| ELO Rating | 1516 | 1539 | Overall ranking quality based on pairwise comparisons |
| Win Rate | 47.9% | 55.7% | Percentage of comparisons won against other models |
| Pricing & Availability | |||
| Price per 1M tokens | $0.050 | $0.130 | Cost per million tokens processed |
| Release Date | 2025-06-06 | 2024-01-25 | Model release date |
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| Avg nDCG@10 | 0.818 | 0.811 | Normalized discounted cumulative gain at position 10 |
| Performance Metrics | |||
| Avg Latency | 130758ms | 32922ms | Average response time across all datasets |
Dataset Performance
By field
Comprehensive comparison of accuracy metrics (nDCG, Recall) and latency percentiles for each benchmark dataset.
PG
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-large | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 151470ms | 57366ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 148441ms | 56219ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 174191ms | 65971ms | 90th percentile |
business reports
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-large | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 93874ms | 8013ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 91997ms | 7853ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 107955ms | 9215ms | 90th percentile |
DBPedia
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-large | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.633 | 0.648 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.625 | 0.641 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.235 | 0.255 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.381 | 0.377 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 200373ms | 42058ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 196366ms | 41217ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 230429ms | 48367ms | 90th percentile |
FiQa
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-large | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.760 | 0.730 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.781 | 0.752 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.732 | 0.700 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.814 | 0.781 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 189471ms | 48635ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 185682ms | 47662ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 217892ms | 55930ms | 90th percentile |
SciFact
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-large | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.750 | 0.726 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.765 | 0.761 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.843 | 0.768 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.883 | 0.863 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 200031ms | 55796ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 196030ms | 54680ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 230036ms | 64165ms | 90th percentile |
MSMARCO
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-large | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 1.000 | 1.000 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 1.000 | 1.000 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.123 | 0.123 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.224 | 0.224 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 180144ms | 41860ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 176541ms | 41023ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 207166ms | 48139ms | 90th percentile |
NorQuAD
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-large | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 18544ms | 5613ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 18173ms | 5501ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 21326ms | 6455ms | 90th percentile |
ARCD
| Metric | Qwen3 Embedding 8B | OpenAI text-embedding-3-large | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy Metrics | |||
| nDCG@5 | 0.913 | 0.899 | Ranking quality at top 5 results |
| nDCG@10 | 0.919 | 0.899 | Ranking quality at top 10 results |
| Recall@5 | 0.920 | 0.940 | % of relevant docs in top 5 |
| Recall@10 | 0.940 | 0.940 | % of relevant docs in top 10 |
| Latency Metrics | |||
| Mean | 12156ms | 4036ms | Average response time |
| P50 | 11913ms | 3955ms | 50th percentile (median) |
| P90 | 13979ms | 4641ms | 90th percentile |
Explore More
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